Anything for You
by Flarefirered
Summary: SPECIAL SPOILER! Zane's operation in Diego did not make Zane unable to breathe or speak, but further damaged his motor skills. What will become of him? And how will Tally cope? TallyxZane.
1. Fault

**Disclaimer: I do not own Specials or any of the Uglies series! It all belongs to Scott Westerfeld! This chapter contains some direct excerpts from the novel. **

**Summary: **Zane does not die. He does not lose _all _his motor skills—he can still breathe and talk—but his motor skills are severely damaged, even more than before. How will that affect his already shaky relationship with Tally? And what will become of the ongoing war?

**Author's Note: I read **_**Specials**_** and i just couldn't accept Zane's death. He was my absolute favorite character, so I wrote this fanfic. Enjoy! And please review!**

Tally burst into the hospital room.

Zane lay in the bed, his head and arms hooked up to a collection of machines. A female middle pretty doctor was doing something with the machines, glancing at him every now and then. Another middle pretty was pulling back Zane's eyelids to peer at his eyes.

"What happened?" Tally cried, adrenaline rushing through her veins.

The middle pretty doctors looked at her, eyes wide as they realized she was the dangerous weapon that had escaped.

_"Well?"_ Tally shrieked, her muscles tensing, rage coursing through her. Shay gripped her shoulders, holding her back. Tally tried to shake her off. _"Say something!"_

"Control yourself Tally." Shay's grip tightened.

"Once they freaking tell me _what's going on!" _

"Give us a moment," one of the doctors said warily.

"You know what I'll give you—" Tally started to say. She was cut off as Shay and another Cutter yanked her out of the room and shut the door.

"Calm down Tally," Shay cautioned, her fingers still digging into Tally's shoulders. "Let them figure out what's going on."

"Let me go!" Tally snarled, baring her teeth, her mind spinning as she looked for angles of attack. She was outnumbered, and even though the Cutters weren't as special as she was anymore, they were still too fast and strong for her to fight alone. Her anger began to morph into panic.

"They operated on him," Tally whispered. "But this is a city hospital. What could go wrong?"

Shay's grip relaxed just a little bit. "We don't know yet, but we'll find out soon enough. Just _calm down,_ Tally, and don't hurt anyone."

Tally didn't answer. She just stared at the door marked 'Recovery', her heart pounding. Zane had to be fine. This was a proper hospital after all, not one of Maddy's screwed up pills…

"Just let me in," she said. Reluctantly, Shay nodded at the other Cutters. Tachs opened the door.

The two doctors were talking, glancing at Zane every now and then. They turned when the heard the door open. Tally stepped inside, Shay still holding onto her arms, Tachs and Ho hovering nearby with the rest of the Cutters behind them.

"What happened?" Tally said, forcing herself to keep her voice low and steady.

One of the doctors swallowed. "He was operated on."

"I can see that," Tally hissed impatiently. Shay squeezed her arm.

The doctor swallowed again. "You realize he arrived here with brain damage?"

"Yes," Shay answered, her voice calm.

"Zane said he wanted to be fixed: no more shakes or lapses in cognition," the doctor explained. "And he requested a physical control upgrade—as far as we could push it. It was risky, but he gave informed consent."

Tally's head spun again. Zane had wanted his reflexes back and better, so that Tally wouldn't see him as weak and average. _This is all my fault…_

"So…what…" Tally choked off, unable to finish.

"We can't be sure the full extent of the damage but…" The doctors exchanged glances. "We think his motor skills may be…gone."

"Gone?" Tally's knees felt weak. Shay's grip tightened again.

"And," the other doctor added. "His condition isn't very stable. We don't know if he'll ever wake up."

_"What?"_

"We should go," Shay whispered. "You're too dangerous."

"No!"

"Tally—"

"Just give me a few minutes with him Shay."

Shay pursed her lips, considering. "Fine," she finally said, releasing her grip. The two middle pretties quickly exited, followed by the Cutters. Shay looked at Tally for a long moment before backing out.

Once the door was closed, Tally took a few steps forward. She'd thought she could try again, deal with Zane's shaking. But this…with his motor skills gone, what would become of him? And what if he never even woke up?

So many things she'd never said. So many things she needed to say.

Tally felt her eyes burning. It was all her fault. She had hurt him. She was the reason Zane had been so desperate get this stupid operation. She was the reason he was like this.

"Zane," Tally whispered, her eyes burning with tears she could not cry. The sight of him on the bed, hooked up to so many machines, looking so frail…

The sight of his fragile body no longer repulsed Tally. Now she was only disgusted with herself, for being so greedy. For not having rewired herself earlier, before Zane had decided to do this.

Zane was willing to do anything for her, and she hadn't even been able to put up with a little shaking for him. And all her life, she had never told him 'I love you' back, just hurt him, all Tally Youngblood was good at doing. She took another step closer.

That was when Zane's fingers twitched.

**Author's Note: :O Do you like it so far? If so, review! Please!**


	2. Escape

Tally stared at Zane's hand. Had she really just seen that? Her special vision was perfect, but maybe she had imagined it?

Zane's hand twitched again, his breathing less even than before. "Zane," Tally whispered again, her heart pounding. She couldn't stop herself from hoping. Hoping that he may be okay.

Beautiful golden eyes—ones that Tally had thought were watery and average not so long ago—gradually fluttered open.

Tally's breathing quickened, her flash tattoos pulsing madly. He was alive. "Zane-la."

Zane's breath caught. Very slowly, his eyes moved to her face. "Tally." His voice was scarcely as loud as a whisper. "You came back."

Tally tried to smile. "I never left." She knelt next to Zane's bed, careful not to get tangled up in the wires attached to him. He looked so weak, his face pale; his arms limp at his sides. Tally's insides burned. "What did they do to you?"

The door swung open. "Tally, they…" Shay's voice trailed off. Tally did not turn, her eyes were glued to Zane's face. "Need the bed…"

Zane's hands moved, but nothing else. "What the…" he muttered under his breath.

One of the middle pretty doctors timidly squeezed past Shay. "You're awake," she said, sounding surprised.

"What happened?" Zane asked, eyes wide, hands twitching nervously.

"Your system rejected the new brain tissue," the doctor explained to him. "We can't be sure the full extent of the damage done, but…your motor skills may be pretty much gone."

Tally turned away, unable to bring herself to watch Zane's reaction. He had done this for her. And the war was her fault too. The war was the reason no one had been notified of Zane's condition earlier.

"Is there anything you can do for him?" Shay asked quietly.

"Not now," the doctor sighed. "There are dozens of casualties, and well…we need the bed…"

"And _this _isn't a casualty?" Tally snarled. "What have you stupid Diego doctors _done?!"_

"Tally!" Shay, Ho, and Tachs hands shot out to keep her down. Tally hissed, baring her teeth at the doctor.

"Bubbleheads," she spat at the middle pretties. "You're doctors aren't you? _Fix him._"

"We can't do anything now," the braver one of the two said. "It's too risky. And we have all the casualties to deal with—"

_"Does it look like I care?"_

"Tally-wa," Zane said quietly.

Tally looked away. Zane didn't need to see her like this. "Fine," she said. "I'll fix this myself." She tore herself free from the Cutters.

"We have a war to stop Tally," Shay reminded her softly. "What do you plan to do?"

Tally glanced back at Zane, careful to avoid his gaze. He didn't appear to really _need _the life support machines. The doctors in Diego were obviously too busy with their _casualties _to perform another intense operation. And even if they were, Tally didn't trust them. They'd already half turned Zane into a vegetable.

There was only one person who could fix him now: Dr. Cable.

Tally could easily make it back to her city on a hoverboard. The war could wait. Shay probably wouldn't help her; she didn't understand why Tally needed Zane better so badly. It was because this was Tally's fault. She owed him his life back.

She glanced back at Shay. She looked exhausted. And because Shay was no longer a true special, Tally knew she wouldn't be hard to trick.

The plan laid itself out in Tally's mind; what she would bring, how she would escape, how she would travel.

"I know what to do," Tally said. "We'll get some sleep, and then we'll fix what we've done." _What I've done._

"So what's the plan Tally?" Shay asked.

Tally faked a tired smile. "Specials don't need a plan," she quoted Shay's past words.

* * *

Tally acted the moment Shay and the Cutters were asleep.

She flew through the halls and into the recovery room. The same two doctors were there, talking to Zane. They turned around, surprised, and a little scared, seeing that the Cutters weren't there to keep Tally from attacking.

"Give me a couple minutes with him," Tally said. The doctors nodded and exited the room, keeping one eye on her the whole way, as if they expected her to spring at any moment. Once the door was closed, Tally was at Zane's side.

"Hey," Zane said. He looked stronger, his face less pale, his gaze intense again.

"How are you?" Tally asked, wanting an actual answer.

Zane understood. "They don't think I'll ever walk again," he whispered.

Tally tore her eyes away from his. "You never know," she told him, her voice low. "Can you get along without these machines?"

"Yeah. They're not really doing much, other than monitoring my heart and stuff like that."

Tally smiled. "Then I have a plan." She looked at Zane's face.

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought specials don't need a plan."

Tally got two Special Circumstances hoverboards, along with two sleeping bags, and returned to Zane's room, blocking the door with a chair lodged under the doorknob. They would have to move—well, Tally would have to move—quickly once Zane was no longer attached to the machines.

"No survival kits?" Zane whispered.

"Don't have time to get them," Tally answered.

"So what will we eat?"

Tally paused. Her body was designed for surviving in the wild; able to digest almost anything she ate. But Zane was a different story…

Some of the Cutters—before they had gotten cured of course—had started hunting small animals. Tally could do that and roast them for Zane to live on.

"You can chew right?"

"I'm talking aren't I?"

"Then it's all good."

Tally slipped off her crash bracelets and put them onto Zane's wrists. He needed them more than she did. She snapped her fingers and the hoverboards rose into the air, moving towards Zane. She stopped them at the bed.

Carefully, she lifted up Zane's legs and slipped the hoverboard underneath. It was awful how limp his body was. Tally worked moved worked until Zane's body was on. She cradled his head as she snatched the pillow and threw it aside. Pulled the board up so that his head rested on it as well.

There was a rosy tint to Zane's angled cheeks now. He kept his golden eyes away from Tally's face.

Once Zane was securely on the hoverboard, Tally snapped her fingers again. It rose, as well as the other one, and Tally stepped onto hers.

"Ready?" she whispered. Zane nodded, still not looking at her.

With inhuman speed, she plucked all the wires off of Zane. Tally positioned herself so that she was riding on her stomach, with one arm draped over Zane's body to steer his board for him. She kept one of his hands on her board so she could access the crash bracelet commands.

Tally got the boards moving forward, and then she realized she had forgotten open the window.

Tally snatched a chair and threw it at the glass. It went straight through, shattering the window and tumbling down to the ground below.

"Look out below," Tally muttered, urging the boards out the broken window. She switched on the hoverboards' lifter fans as they left the building. Shouts reached her ears from behind but Tally ignored them and kept flying, descending steadily to the forests.

* * *

**a/n: Please review! Just so i know that _someone's _reading this**


	3. Anything can go wrong in the wild

**Author's note: Tally is not wearing a sneak suit, just to make things more interesing. :)**

* * *

The hoverboards broke through the treetops. Branches whipped at Zane's skin as they sank through, but he hardly noticed. Tally's warm, yet sturdy body was so close, one arm draped over him. It had his head spinning.

Tally glanced at him. "You okay so far?" she asked, her special voice strangely soft.

"Yeah," Zane said. He smiled. "That was bubbly."

They began to pick up speed, Tally steering both hoverboards expertly, though Zane was sure she had never done this before.

After a while, Zane grew slightly more accustomed to having Tally close to him. His head spun less, letting him think. That was when he remembered how pathetic he felt. On his journey here, he had barely been able to ride a hoverboard properly. Now, on his way back to his home city, he couldn't ride it at all. In fact, he needed Tally to do everything for him.

Zane glanced at her face. It was impossible to read. Zane looked away, wondering if Tally was still revolted by his condition. His worsened condition. Was being immobile better than shaking to a special mind? It didn't seem right, for inert was more of a weakness than shaking and bad reflexes. Zane closed his eyes.

After a couple of endless hours with no conversations, the hoverboards slowed to a halt, gently lowering to the ground. Zane opened his eyes. The sky was dark.

Tally got off her board. Zane closed his eyes again and tried to move his legs. He couldn't. He barely even managed to move his toes. Sighing, he opened his eyes again, to find Tally kneeling beside him. She picked him up with ease, and then set him down on top of an open sleeping bag.

Zane managed to smile through his embarrassment. "Thanks?" he offered.

The corners of Tally's lips twitched. "Hungry?" she asked.

"Sure. But what's there to eat?"

Tally bared her sharp, pointed teeth in some sort of grin. "I'm going to hunt."

* * *

Tally knelt down and placed a hand on the forest floor, closing her eyes. The chips in her hands caught the slightest vibrations, and Tally let her entire body listen for sounds of her prey.

There were two rabbits nearby. Tally's eyes opened. A slight rustle of leaves just a few yards away drifted to her ears. Turning her head ever so slightly, she saw the movements.

Another rustling noise reached her ears. The other rabbit. Turning her head a tiny bit more, she located the other one.

Her mind dissected the hunt for her, calculating the time it would take for her to get the first one, how much noise it would make, how far the second rabbit would be once she got the first one.

Tally sprang. She caught the furthest rabbit in her lethal hands with ease, snapping its neck. The thought of killing an animal for food started to disgust Tally again, but she pushed it down, letting her special mind take over. Her first kill still in her hand, Tally leapt again, catching the other rabbit in her other hand, snapping its spine as well. At least neither of them had felt more than necessary.

Tally picked up both her kills, just the slightest bit satisfied. It had been her first hunt, and it had gone well. Then she remembered that she used to eat rabbits back in the Smoke, and if Smokies could catch them…well, then it wasn't much of an accomplishment. For a special.

Tally suddenly remembered she had to get back to Zane. This was the wild, she reminded herself. Anything could happen, and Zane—who couldn't even walk—was toast if anything came up.

The thought of losing Zane sent adrenaline pulsing through Tally's veins. She shot through the forest, running for where she had left Zane as fast as she could.

She burst into their camp and skidded to a halt. Zane was still laying on the sleeping bag, unharmed, his eyes closed as he dozed off. Relief washed over Tally. He was okay.

No he wasn't okay actually. He was crippled and almost completely without motor skills.

Golden eyes opened. "Back already?" Zane said, his voice a little rough.

"Yep," Tally said. "And with dinner."

Zane raised his eyebrows. "Rabbits?"

Tally shrugged and got to work. She set up a small fire. They were far enough from the city that it wouldn't really matter too much. Then Tally moved on to the rabbits. Not quite wanting to skin them yet, she stuck them on two large sticks and let them cook.

As the smoke stained the rabbits' fur gray, Tally began to skin them. Once that was done, she tore the cooking meat into smaller pieces and stuck them on the sticks to cook better.

Then came the hard part. How was Zane going to eat when he couldn't use his arms? Tally put out the fire and then turned to look at Zane, then at the sticks of meat she was holding, and then Zane again.

"What?" Zane asked.

Tally looked back down at the rabbit meat as she answered. "Um, how do you want to eat it?"

Zane was quiet for a moment. "Oh."

Tally wound up literally feeding him, like a parent would feed an extremely young littlie. It was an awkward process for both of them. Tally's face felt like it was burning the whole time, while Zane's face maintained a steady rosy tint.

Once that was done, Tally zipped up Zane's sleeping bag and finished the rest of the meat.

"Where will you sleep?" Zane asked her once she was done with her meal.

"Here," Tally answered.

"No sleeping bag?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. This is how I slept when I was following you."

Zane frowned, and looked away, but not before Tally saw a hint of sadness and rejection in his big new pretty eyes. Tally felt herself panicking. Had she done something wrong?

"Night Tally," Zane mumbled as his eyes closed.

Tally gazed at his face. "Night Zane." She watched as the muscles in his face relaxed, listened to his breathing deepen.

Finally, Tally sighed to herself and lay down next to him. She set her internal software to ping her every thirty minutes, just to be safe.

* * *

Something warm was next to him. Zane opened his eyes just a tiny bit. He glanced at the source of the heat.

Tally lay on the ground at his side, sleeping. Her special body was surprisingly warm. Zane allowed his eyes to open all the way, seeing that Tally was fast asleep. She looked so peaceful, her cruel pretty face less harsh. Zane watched her for a few endless minutes.

Suddenly, Tally twitched and her coal black eyes opened, her features immediately returning to a sharp special stare.

Zane snapped his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. The pine needles on the ground rustled as Tally shifted her position. A moment later, she spoke.

"I can tell you're a awake you know."

_Shoot._ Zane had forgotten about her hearing. "Hey," he said, opening his eyes again. Tally smiled, but there was an edge to it. "What'd wrong?"

Tally shook her head. "Nothing." She looked at the sky. "Time to move." She stood and snapped her fingers. A low hum reached Zane's ears as the hoverboards moved towards Tally.

"Since when do hoverboards fly without metal?" he asked, noticing for the first time.

"Since Special Circumstances recruited specials that actually used hoverboards." As she spoke, a gloomy look entered Tally's face.

Tally loaded Zane onto the board. She kept the two right next to each other and placed him on top, slanted. She rode on her knees this time, and Zane wondered if she didn't want to make as much contact with his useless body. But on the first turn, she crouched over him, holding him in place. Zane's heart pounded, having her stoop over him like that.

Zane tried to keep his eyes away from Tally's face, not wanting to see the revulsion that may be there. But finally, he couldn't help himself. He glanced up at her cruel pretty face, but all he saw was a look of concentration as she stared ahead.

The sun rose, and then began to set. They never stopped once, and Tally's concentration never lapsed. They didn't hit a single tree. Zane began to grow hungry, but he didn't say anything. Having Tally so close to him, it reminded him of the times when they were both pretties. And the time when Tally had brought him all the way to the hospital, riding on top of him on a hoverboard. Zane fought a smile. Those were good times all right, even with his headaches from the nanos eating at his brain.

Eventually, the hoverboards slowed and they lowered gently to the ground. Tally placed him on the sleeping bag again, and left to hunt. She returned with two rabbits again. Once again, Tally cooked them and fed them to Zane. And once again, Zane could feel himself blushing the entire time.

Zane didn't ask Tally where she would sleep this time. He drifted off, thinking of how Tally probably would rather sleep on the ground than share a sleeping bag with his crippled, useless body.

* * *

They flew for the entire next day. Tally rode on her knees, trying to keep her mind as icy as possible. Hitting a tree was not something she intended to do with Zane as her passenger. The day flew by, and as the sun set, Tally felt a smile playing on her lips. They were just half a day's flight away from the Rusty Ruins now.

"Something funny?" Zane murmured.

"Just one more day." Tally slowed as she came to a small clearing in the trees where they could rest for the night. After getting Zane on the sleeping bag, Tally left to hunt.

As she knelt, a hand on the ground, Tally couldn't shake off the fear of something happening to Zane while she was gone. She tried to shake the feeling off and focus on detecting the movements of rabbits. Amazingly enough, she was getting used to eating meat. As the sounds of the forest consumed her senses, Tally's fears heightened.

There was the dull thudding of heavy footsteps. As Tally focused on it, it became more and more clear. A threatening growl filled her ears. A large animal was prowling the forest, moving about…

Tally realized with a sickening jolt of panic that it was heading straight for Zane.

She leapt up and sprinted past the trees, pushing herself to run as fast as she could. Tally tore through a tangle of branches and into the clearing…

At the exact moment a massive creature snarled and took a step closer to Zane. It was a bear.

Tally hissed through her bared teeth and threw herself at the bear. It took a swipe at her head and Tally ducked in midair by curling herself into a ball. She kicked out, hitting its nose. The bear roared in rage and swiped at her again. Tally twisted her body out of the way, the bear's claws missing her side by inches.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Tally leapt back, out of the bear's attack range. It was strong, and Tally's kick hadn't done much. Suddenly, Tally wanted to cut herself, to think of a way to end the fight before Zane could get hurt. But she couldn't do that in front of him, not when she had already said she didn't cut herself anymore.

Momentarily distracted by her dilemma, Tally realized a moment too late what the bear's next move was. She started to leap back, her body twisting away…

Claws tore the skin on Tally's back, searing pain momentarily taking over Tally's senses. She stumbled forward, crumpling to the ground. "Tally!" she heard Zane cry.

Then the special moment hit her—it was like cutting herself all over again. Tally's mind cleared, the searing pain in her back was completely separate from her mind. She rolled away just as the bear's massive paw came down where her head had been a moment ago.

Tally sprang to her feet and looked at the bear. Immediately, she saw how she would finish it. Its neck. Its clumsiness. Her intelligence and agility.

Tally bared her teeth at it, hissing again. It bellowed at her in response.

Tally's mind saw the angles of attack, calculated how fast the it could respond, how fast it could move to stop her. Lips pulling up into a maniac grin around her bared teeth, Tally rushed forward.

It swiped at her, a shamefully predictable move. Tally darted to the side and the claws missed her completely, exposing the bear's back. Tally leapt on, grasping its massive shoulders, her nails digging into the flesh for a better hold.

One of her hands formed a claw and she plunged it into the bear's neck, where the vessel visibly pulsed before Tally's icy special eyes.

The bear's answering roar turned to gurgling. Tally leapt off as it rampaged, blood flowing from its wound. Tally darted around it, towards Zane. Fortunately, it didn't come near, eventually collapsing on the ground. Tally picked up a hoverboard and smashed it's skull, putting it out of its misery. She took a few steps back.

Her iciness was fading now that the danger was gone. The burning of her clawed up back overtook her mind again and Tally's knees gave way. She fell onto her hands and knees, breathing hard.

"Tally!" Zane's voice was horrified and dismayed.

The buzz of repair nanos started up, sending a tingling feeling down her back. The pain faded a little as the squirted anesthetic around. Tally gingerly felt her back with her fingers. The cuts weren't exactly shallow, but they had stopped bleeding already.

Tally straightened, the movement sending ripples of pain through her body, but she ignored it. Reluctantly, she turned to face Zane.

His eyes were wide, filled with torment and agonized worry. "Tally…are you…"

"I'll be fine," Tally said truthfully, feeling her back again. Zane didn't look very convinced. "Really," Tally assured him. "It's a special thing."

* * *

**a/n: Tally fought off a bear! :O I hope cooking the rabbit was realistic enough, i have no idea how people actually do that so...**

**Anyway, once again, review! say anything if you like it, just so i know whether or not i'm writing this for a reason other than my own personal entertainment. :D**


	4. Special Circumstances

Zane hardly slept that night.

If he hadn't been immobile, he would have tossed and turned, thinking about how he had lay there, completely helpless, as Tally fought the bear alone. How he still laid there as the bear's claws tore open Tally's back. How he only watched as she crumpled to the ground while the massive creature raised its paw to deliver the final blow.

He wondered how Tally had recovered so quickly from the attack, and had fought even better afterwards. It didn't make much sense in Zane's mind. He glanced at Tally, sleeping beside him in the darkness of night. By now, Zane had also noticed how she woke up every twenty minutes. He wanted to ask her about it, but couldn't bring himself to. Not now.

When Zane finally did fall asleep, his dreams were filled with the dreadful images of the fight. And just like in reality, Zane watched from his inert body as claws tore into Tally's back and blood stained her clothes.

"Zane!"

Tally's voice accompanied by a sharp shake jolted Zane out of his nightmare. Opening his eyes, he saw Tally leaning over him and realized that his face was covered in a sheen of sweat.

"Are you okay?" Tally asked him, a hint of worry in her voice.

Tally was asking him if _he _was okay, when _she _was the one who had fought a bear less than twelve hours ago. "Yeah," he managed to croak through his revulsion for himself.

Tally frowned and placed a hand on his forehead. Zane savored the her gentle touch. "Are you tired?"

Zane blinked. Once again, _she_ was asking _him _if he was tired. "No, aren't you? You're the one who fought a bear yesterday."

Tally smiled. "Specials don't need much sleep."

"Is that why you wake up every twenty minutes?"

Tally raised one of her perfect eyebrows. "You noticed that?"

"Sure did...and when the bear clawed you..." Zane swallowed. "How did you recover so fast?"

"It's what we call being icy," Tally answered, not the slightest bit shaken. She ran a finger over the scars on her arm. "It's why we used to cut ourselves."

"Oh," was all Zane could manage.

Tally glimpsed at the sky. "Let's go, hopefully we'll make it to the Rusty Ruins by noon."

"Don't you want to rest? How's your back?" Zane worked to keep his voice steady.

"Good as new. And like I said, specials don't need much sleep," Tally answered. She turned away, but not before Zane caught the look in her eyes. He could swear it was affectionate, but maybe it was just his messed up brain fooling him.

* * *

As Tally predicted, they made it to the Rusty Ruins at noon. Tally quickly moved her hands to turn her skintenna on. She picked up a signal from somewhere much closer than the city. Stiffening, she slowed the boards and turned off their lifter fans with the crash bracelets Zane was still wearing. The magnetic lifters easily found purchase on the Rusties' metal structures.

"What's wrong?" Zane asked.

Tally's eyes scanned her surroundings. "Someone's here," she whispered.

"Tally?" came a voice through her skintenna. Tally's head jerked up and then she froze. It was David.

Tally turned on her infrared vision and looked around.

"It's me Tally. I can see you."

"Where are you?" Tally hissed, still looking around madly. Zane's looked at her in surprise; probably thinking she was going insane.

A moment later, David's voice came again. "I see you've brought Zane."

Tally bared her teeth and slowly lowered the hoverboards to the ground. She stood.

"Is there something wrong with him?"

"Can't figure that out on your own?" she snapped, still unable to spot him. She realized she was overreacting. David wasn't exactly as much a threat to Zane than the bear had been. Tally switched off her skintenna and listened, eyes still scanning the towers of metal.

Finally, she found him. He was hiding at the top of the tallest tower. Of course.

She turned staring straight at the tower. Kneeling down near Zane just incase this was some type of ambush, she rebooted her skintenna and said, "I found you."

She saw David then as he stood. He was unarmed. He got on his hoverboard and rode towards them.

Suddenly, Tally was irritated. He was wasting their time. She had to get Zane to Dr. Cable as soon as possible. "I don't have time for this." Tally got back onto the hoverboards and began to ride away. She would take a different course back, away from the river so that David's hoverboard couldn't follow her.

"Tally, wait!" David called. Tally kept going, urging the boards to fly faster, turning on the lifter fans for extra speed. Eventually, the lifters lost their purchase on metal. Tally smiled.

A moment later Zane spoke. "Um Tally? His hoverboard's still working."

Tally's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked back. Sure enough, David was still hot on their tail, riding a Special Circumstance hoverboard with lifter fans.

"Dammit, those stupid _thieves!" _Tally turned back towards the river. May as well use the extra speed of magnetic lifters in that case.

"Why are we running away from him? It's not like he's going to do anything," Zane said.

"Other than hit us with shock-sticks so he can despecialize me," Tally growled. Stupid Maddy and her "cures".

Cold droplets of water hit Tally's face as she flew over the river. She glanced back. David was gaining, quickly. Tally cursed. It was time to get risky. "Please don't fall off," she said as she shifted Zane so that he was lying on one hoverboard. Tally got on the other one and drifted away just a little to make sure that the board was stable.

Then, she slowed her own hoverboard. Once David was close enough, she flew up higher. Then, she dropped down, hitting the surface hard. A huge wave of water flew up behind her, crashing down on David. She heard him cry out in surprise. Tally glanced back, smirking when she saw that he had fallen off. Satisfied, she turned back towards Zane.

To her utter dismay, he was slipping. Tally pushed her hoverboard to go faster…

The hoverboard tilted, but it couldn't quite tell what was happening because Zane wasn't wearing a belly sensor. With a yelp of surprise, Zane was dumped into the current.

"No!" Tally shouted. She leapt off of her hoverboard, launching herself into the water, right where Zane had disappeared. The freezing water bit into Tally's skin, straight to her bones. But then her special moment came. If David caught up to them, all Tally had to do was knock him out.

But first, she needed to save Zane. He was sinking, his crash bracelets trying to pull him up, but the current was messing with it too much. With a few powerful strokes, Tally was by his side. She grabbed his arm, pulling…

Their heads broke the surface, Zane gasping for breath. Tally looked up, and the two hoverboards were flying mercifully above them. She threw Zane onboard, her head sinking under momentarily. Tally resurfaced quickly and climbed onto the other one while steadying Zane. Tally glanced behind them.

David was right there, his clothes soaking.

Tally's hand flew out—so fast that it was blurred—and hit David right in the jaw. She grabbed his arm and threw him onto the shore, not exactly wanting him to drown. His hoverboard followed him.

"Are you okay?" Tally panted.

Zane coughed. "Yeah."

Soon enough, they passed through the outer ring of Crumblyville.

"Don't say anything," she warned Zane as she switched on her skintenna. It connected with a drone patrolling the city limits. The machine gave her a quick electronic frisk before realizing she was an agent of Special Circumstances. "Message to Dr. Cable," Tally said into her skintenna.

"Tally Youngblood?" came Dr. Cable's razor-edge voice.

"I need to talk to you."

"Indeed," Dr. Cable replied. "Level J operating theater. I'll have the halls cleared." The connection cut off.

* * *

Tally kept the lifter fans on so that she wouldn't hurt Zane on her entrance. She contacted Maxamilla Feaster, one of Dr. Cable's sub commanders. "Feaster! I need in. Now."

"Agent Youngblood?"

"Yes! Now let me in! I have a meeting with Dr. Cable, level J—"

"Ah yes, I heard. We have an elevator waiting for you already."

The landing pad beneath Tally began to part. As the hoverboards descended, startled workers looked up at them.

She flew them straight to the open elevator. "Please Tally, off of your hoverboard already," came Feaster's voice in her ear.

"Fine," Tally grumbled as the elevator doors closed. She got off and picked up Zane in her arms.

"Special Circumstances?" he mouthed. Tally nodded, not meeting his eyes. As soon as the doors opened, Tally took off running.

Specials were pressed up against the wall, questioning looks on their faces as Tally sprinted past, carrying Zane. _This is kinda awkward, _Tally noted.

Finally, she reached her destination and leapt through the entrance, skidding to a halt in the dim room. Dr. Cable wasn't there yet. She set Zane down on the ground softly. His eyes were wide.

"I see you brought a guest Tally."

Tally turned. It was Dr. Cable, holding a knife in her hand.

* * *

**a/n: Dr. Cable has a knife! sure wonder why... :O**


	5. Anything for Him

Dr. Cable bared her teeth in a smile. "You wanted to speak with me?"

Tally swallowed and nodded, standing up. She wasn't sure how to start.

"Well?" Dr. Cable raised an eyebrow. "You sure came here in a rush. I assume this involves Zane?"

"Yes," Tally said. "I'm here to ask you to"—she swallowed again—"fix him."

"You know my rules Tally."

"But he made it all the way to Diego as a…cripple." Tally's insides burned with guilt from saying the word.

Dr. Cable smiled. "Really? How did he get that orbital alloy collar off his neck?"

Tally opened her mouth, and then closed it, unable to answer.

Dr. Cable held up the knife in her hand. "I believe this belongs to you," she said. Tally realized it was the one Shay had given her to cut herself sometime before they had broken into the Armory. "You have some explaining to do Tally."

Tally set her jaw. "If you make him special," she said softly. It was the only way to fix him. Only Dr. Cable and her surgeons had a chance of fixing Zane.

Dr. Cable narrowed her eyes. "Tell me everything first. And I mean every little detail. The whole truth. Not a single lie, Tally, I know how tricky you can be."

"Fine," Tally said. "I got the orbital alloy cutter—"

"From the Armory. I know that part already. Your DNA was on this knife here."

"Then why are you attacking Diego?"

Dr. Cable laughed. "That should be rather obvious Tally, I couldn't tell them that _you _had destroyed half the city's military. The Cutters were my pride and joy, my _special _Specials. And besides, you gave me the perfect opportunity to rid of my old opponent. They'll destroy the world, the way they're supporting the Smoke.

"Speaking of the Cutters, where have they all disappeared to?"

"Diego. And they've all been cured."

Dr. Cable raised an eyebrow. "Cured?"

"Yes. Maddy made a cure for Specials."

Dr. Cable snorted. "That woman. Taking our uglies and letting our pretties' minds loose isn't enough for her. No, she has to despecialize my Specials too." A glint appeared in her eyes. "Tell you what Tally, I'll make your precious boyfriend special. But first, I have some important errands for you."

"What?"

"I want you to bring your fellow Cutters back here. I must say, Shay was quite an _icy _Special, I wouldn't want to lose her or the rest of my Cutters."

Tally's heart beat faster. "You want me to betray my friends," she said softly. "Again."

"No Tally, I want you to _save _your friends. Bring them back here so I can make them true Specials again."

"Along with Zane," Tally mouthed.

Dr. Cable smiled. "Of course Tally." She looked past Tally at Zane. "And might I ask, what in the world happened to you, boy?"

Zane didn't answer.

"The Diego doctors operated on him," Tally said, feeling a flash of anger.

"Ha. Those pathetic excuses for doctors. They throw out the Pretty Committee's standards and yet they can't do something as simple as repairing motor skills." Dr. Cable smirked. "Meanwhile, I can _improve _motor skills to a level they've never dreamed of."

Tally decided not to bring up how Special bodies apparently violated morphological standards. "Yep, they make people's fingers into snakes," she said instead.

"So Tally, do we have a deal?"

"So I bring the rest of the Cutters back and you make them real Specials again?"

"Yes. And of course I'll be demanding your complete and unwavering loyalty. I hope you know how to be obedient Tally, it's really not that difficult for me to despecialize someone. Just how much are you willing to do to make your boyfriend special?"

Tally's eyes burned as she thought of how Zane had literally sacrificed his mobility—and almost his life—just so that Tally wouldn't be revolted by him anymore. Betraying friends wasn't really new to Tally. And besides, Diego _would _destroy the harmony of the way things were with the cities. But more importantly, Tally needed to prove to Zane that she loved him, and was willing to sacrifice things for him as well.

"Anything," she whispered, fervent truth coating every syllable. "Anything."

* * *

**A/n: sorry, this chapter's a little short, but this seemed like a good place to end it. **


	6. The not so special Cutters

Tally left at dawn.

She had less a week to get to Diego. Dr. Cable had delayed her second attack so that Tally could retrieve her precious Cutters first. Dr. Cable gave her an extra hoverboard, so now Tally could switch off between the three, traveling fast.

She didn't talk to Zane before she left, she didn't want to face him now, not after the conversation she had with Dr. Cable right in front of him.

Tally flew over the river, using only the hoverboards' magnetic lifters. Even though she had three hoverboards to switch off with, she wanted to keep the lifter fans as cool as possible. She had no intentions of stopping at all to let them cool. As the Rusty Ruins came into view, Tally glanced back to check that the other two hoverboards were still following her. They were.

Tally switched on her skintenna, wondering if David was still here. She didn't have time to deal with him and his mother's cures. She had the Cutters to save, and Zane to make special.

Fortunately, Tally passed the Rusty Ruins without any signs of David, and soon, she was on her way through the forest and to Diego. Her lifter fans hummed as they kicked in once the metal ran out. Tally set her internal software to ping every fifteen minutes so she would know when to switch.

Within a day and a half—without a single stop—Tally arrived at Diego. Her skintenna began to pick up the city's feeds, and Tally searched for another Cutter. She located Shay first. Tally smiled. Apparently she got lucky. Tally's software pinged her. Time to switch hoverboards. Tally easily jumped onto the next one and turned towards Shay's location.

Tally's luck proved to be even better than she'd expected. Not only was Shay close, but she was also outside the city. In less than five minutes, Tally found the former Cutter boss.

Shay was patrolling the city on a hoverboard, eyes alert, but not as sharp as they had been when she was a true special. Tally began to feel better about what she was doing. Shay just didn't look right when she wasn't a real special. Just like how Fausto couldn't fight as well after he had been cured.

"Shay-la!" Tally called. Then she realized she didn't have a plan. What would she say to Shay? _Stupid, _Tally thought to herself. _Specials don't need a plan. Just stay icy._

Shay turned her board around, eyes wide. "Tally?"

Tally cruised to a halt a few yards away from Shay. "Hey."

"Tally!" Shay exclaimed. "You came back!"

"Of course I did."

Shay's face darkened. "You have some explaining to do. Like why you left without me. And why you took Zane."

Reminding herself that deceiving Shay wasn't really new to her, Tally answered, "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Well?"

The story quickly materialized as Tally racked her brain for a convincing story. "I'm sorry Shay, I had to go alone. I brought Zane back with me so the Diego doctors could use the bed and because our city's doctors have better operational skills. It was just easier that way."

"What about the war?"

"That's why I'm back," Tally said. "Listen Shay, you have to come back with me. You and the rest of the Cutters. Dr. Cable won't listen to me, she says she wants to talk to all the Cutters together."

"Why's that?"

Tally shrugged. "Dr. Cable has her reasons for things. Even if they may not make sense."

Shay stared into Tally's eyes for a long moment. Tally did her best to keep her face composed. Finally, Shay sighed. "Alright, I'll call the rest of the Cutters."

* * *

They were all gathered within a half an hour.

"But Diego needs us," Ho protested. "The second attack'll be coming any day now."

"No it won't," Tally said. "She's postponing it until next week. That's why we need to hurry."

"But—"

"Staying here won't do anyone any good! No matter how many Cutters are here, the military machines are going to be stronger!"

Ho fell quiet. Tally angled her hoverboard away from the Diego. "Come on," she said. The Cutters all looked at Shay, who nodded.

They flew for the rest of the day. Tally was starting to get tired, but it didn't matter. Either way, they needed to stop. Only she had spare hoverboards and the others' lifter fans needed to cool off. All the Cutters fell into catnap mode except for Tally, Shay, and Fausto.

"What's up with the extra hoverboards?" Fausto asked her.

"I didn't want to make any stops to let the lifter fans cool," Tally replied, settling down next to a tree, her three hoverboards sitting around her.

"You made it here in one trip?"

"A day and a half."

"Wow."

"Mm hmm," Tally yawned. She leaned her head against the tree and dozed off. Thirty five minutes later, Tally's internal software pinged. She checked the everyone's lifter fans in her infrared vision. They were all cooled down and ready to go. Standing up, Tally roused the others. Soon, they were on their way again.

Two days later, Tally was leading them towards Special Circumstances.

"Why exactly are we going straight in there?" Shay questioned suspiciously.

Tally was amazed that Shay still hadn't thought of how all the other Specials would know that they were all cured except for Tally. "Dr. Cable."

"I know that. I may not be Special-headed anymore but if you ask me, going straight to the middle of a lair filled with Specials doesn't seem like the smartest plan."

Tally had to think fast. "Cable wants all her lie detecting stuff around us." Tally shrugged, hoping that her reason was convincing enough. Shay didn't ask anymore questions for a while.

"We'll have to make our entrance quick," Tally told the Cutters after she had pinged Feaster and Dr. Cable, asking them to open the entrance for them. The Cutters nodded.

As they flew in, Tally had to admit she was surprised—and a little disappointed—on how _easy _it had been to trick them all.

They took an elevator, and as soon as the doors opened, they all took off running. Regular Specials were pushed up against the walls again to make room for them.

They skidded to a halt inside Dr. Cable's office. The woman was sitting behind her desk, smiling a razor-teethed smile. "Tally, have a seat," Dr. Cable said. Tally obliged. "I see my Cutters have finally reported back."

At a signal that was nothing more than a twitch of Dr. Cable's fingers, Specials armed with stinger rings swarmed around Shay and the Cutters. Tally heard them shouting as gray silk uniforms surrounded them, taking the Cutters down one by one. Tally looked up at Dr. Cable. "Will you make Zane special now?" she asked in a low voice.

"Soon enough Tally, soon enough."

* * *

**A/n: I'm a very flexible writer, and at this point, if you don't like something then please review and let me know. if i get enough that express a similar point, i can change some things in the plot and stuff. **

**btw, does anyone know if it ever says what color Tally's eyes were when she was a pretty?**


	7. Rewired

"Those Cutters," a Special muttered to his friend.

Zane glanced at the two arrivals in his isolated room. "What about the Cutters?"

The Specials looked at him with sharp dark gray eyes. "Tally Youngblood, you must know her well. She stormed in here with all the Cutters and then Dr. Cable had Specials jump all of them except for Tally."

"Oh." It had been less than a week since Tally had left. How had she traveled so quickly?

Zane stared at the door to his room, wishing Tally would come in. It was so uncomfortable in this place, with every passing Special giving him disgusted looks. Every glance reminded Zane of when Tally could not even look at him because he was shaking.

Not to mention he was being fed through a tube. Maybe it was a good thing; being fed by a Special would be extremely awkward. But to Zane's annoyance, it was obvious that no superior Special would be willing to feed a crippled Pretty. They probably didn't want him here at all. Which made him wonder if Tally had really managed to rewire herself.

"Did you notice how…weird the rest of them were? The look in their eyes was wrong," one of the Specials said.

"I know. Where have they been anyway?"

A third female Special walked in, interrupting their conversation. "Youngblood's coming. Clear out."

The other Specials left without hesitation. Zane smiled a little. Tally was coming?

A moment later, Tally appeared, her flash tattoos spinning slightly faster than usual. She had a distant look on her face, her eyes far away. It all disappeared though, once her gaze fell on Zane.

"Hey," Zane said.

Tally gave him a small smile. There was still a strange look in her eyes. "So how have to other Specials been treating you?"

"I think they're disgusted."

Tally's face fell. "Sorry about that."

Zane could feel his curiosity spilling over. "And since when did you get over my crippled-ness?"

Tally stared deep into his eyes for a long moment. "I guess I rewired myself. And when I saw you on that hospital bed, I would have taken you in any form, crippled or not. I just wanted you alive…but even before that, I was starting to think we could try again…"

Zane realized he was smiling. Tally had been willing to think her way out of her Special mind to be with him. She had gotten over her revulsion. They could be together now. "This doesn't bother you anymore?" he asked quietly.

"Not the slightest."

Zane felt warmth flood through him. "I love you Tally," he whispered softly.

An affectionate smile lit Tally's cruel but gorgeous Special face. Her black eyes sparkled as she flitted to his side. "I love you too Zane. Always have, always will." She leaned forward, her face inches from his.

Zane's eyes closed, and he waited…

Tally's lips met his, smooth and gentle. Her hands touched his face, and then slowly slid down towards his chest. Zane's lips parted, his tongue entering her mouth. He wanted to raise his arms and clutch her closer, but even with that burning desire, he could barely manage to lift his hands. As the kiss deepened and Tally's lethal grip grew stronger, Zane's arms lifted a centimeter from the bed…

Suddenly, Tally froze and then slowly pulled back, her eyes slightly unfocused. Her lips pressed together.

"What's wrong?" Zane whispered. Surely she really had rewired her mind, Tally had said so herself.

"Dr. Cable," Tally murmured. Her face grew serious. "I have to tell you something."

"You can tell me anything."

"Well…it's not really personal…well…Okay, let's try that again," Tally said. "Remember how you said that back when you were an ugly, you thought about running away to the Smoke?"

"Yes." And then he had chickened out even though he was the one who planned it all.

"And then Special Circumstances came and questioned you. You said you answered because they threatened to make you a Special."

"Right…"

Tally's eyes had a dark, somber look in them. "What if I told you they were going to make you special now."

Zane remembered how he had spilled everything he knew because of a threat to make him one of them. How their features had seemed so cruel, their dull colored eyes sharp and slanted like a wolf's, their movements almost inhuman, their pointed, razor sharp teeth. But after he had seen Tally as a Special, the aspect really didn't seem so bad. And now, with motor skills so bad that he couldn't even move enough to kiss Tally properly, the inhuman grace and speed of a Special seemed like a paradise.

Tally's eyes dropped away from his face as the silence stretched on.

"I really wouldn't mind actually," Zane finally said.

Tally's eyes flashed back to his face. "Really?"

"After you became a Special, the idea didn't sound so bad anymore."

Tally's eyes darkened. "Zane, stop doing things just for me," she whispered.

Zane's eyes widened in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"You've done enough for me already." Tally's voice was sharp, angry, her flash tattoos spinning faster. "Look at what's happened to you because of me. _I _couldn't rewire myself quickly enough so you went to those Diego 'doctors' and look at what they've done! And as if that wasn't enough, they couldn't fix you in time because of a war _I _accidentally started! I'm sick of making bad things happen to everyone I'm close to, so if you don't actually want to be a Special, tell me and I'll get you out of it." Black eyes glistened with emotion.

"Tally-wa," Zane whispered. "None of those thing are your fault—"

"Yes they are—stop trying to ease my guilt because I know it's true!"

"Tally, I _want _them to make me a Special. I _want _to be special with you."

Tally stared at him for a long time, reading every flicker of emotion on his face. Zane didn't have to act at all; he truly wanted to be special now. Finally, she seemed to believe him and smiled. "I'll tell Dr. Cable then." She touched his cheek and then backed towards the door.

Zane grinned. "I can't wait to be special together Tally."

Tally grinned back, flashing her razor point teeth. "Me too."

* * *

**A/n: i feel like my chapters are getting shorter and shorter, sorry about that. anyway, as soon as the action returns, they should get longer. just a random sidenote, aren't you all glad i update so quickly sometimes?**

**if anyone has any ideas of what should happen to the war with Diego and the New Smoke, review and please let me know!**


	8. Anything for Her

"Your fellow Cutters will be true Specials again soon," Dr. Cable said.

"And Zane?" Tally asked.

"And Zane. How could I ever forget?" Dr. Cable snorted.

"Will you be able to fix him?" Tally felt panic rising beneath her composure. What if even Dr. Cable couldn't fix his messed up brain?

"Of course," Dr. Cable answered, almost indignant. "Those Diego doctors are pathetic. We on the other hand, actually know what we're doing. Special operations require much more skill than what they attempted."

A rush of relief went through Tally and she felt her neck muscles relax. "So you'll finally make him special now."

Dr. Cable bared her teeth in a smile. "We have some things to discuss first."

"What?"

"I can't just give out specialization like candy, Tally. How do I know you won't get all tricky with me again once your boy is healthy again?"

"I won't. I swear."

"So you say," Dr. Cable said. "I know you Tally, you've been tricky since you were a little ugly. I don't believe you exposed the Smoke on purpose now did you?"

"That was before," Tally said through her teeth. "But now I like being special. I just want things to stay how they are once Zane's special too."

"And just to remind you Tally, I expect unwavering loyalty to Special Circumstances from the Cutters, both you and Zane especially. Despecializing a Special isn't that hard of a process evidently—especially since Maddy and Diego doctors can do it. You wouldn't want to see Zane as a bubblehead again or a _tamed_ Special now would you?"

"No, I wouldn't," Tally replied. "I'll do whatever you and Shay say, once Zane's a Special."

Dr. Cable smiled. "Very good Tally. Betray others all you like, just not me or Special Circumstances."

Tally nodded, but felt a twist of guilt. Diego was suffering terribly from the war. Then again, it was Diego's fault that Zane had wound up that way. "So when will Zane get his operation?"

"Tomorrow," Dr. Cable answered. "Once the rest of the Cutters are special again. Although his operation will likely take longer. We have a lot of brain tissue to fix."

Tally winced at the memory of nanos eating away at Zane's brain even after Maddy's pill had destroyed the lesions.

Dr. Cable's eyes flickered away from Tally's face and then back. "Shay's operation has been finished. Why don't you two go catch up with each other?"

* * *

Talking to Dr. Cable while lying completely immobile on a bed was _pretty _awkward for Zane.

"So I see we've had a change of heart?" Dr. Cable said.

"Guess so," Zane muttered. "Can't we just get on with it?"

"Makes me wonder what may have caused it. You were rather quick to spill as an ugly at the thought of becoming special." Dr. Cable's eyes glinted.

"I think you know."

"Tally Youngblood." She took Zane's silence as an answer. "Incredible how much influence you both have on each other. If only more Specials had this kind of inspiration."

Zane snorted. "You just love using us don't you?"

Dr. Cable just bared her teeth in an attempt to smile. "Now, now Zane, if you're going to be working for me soon, you'd best change your sour attitude. There's nothing wrong with being special."

Zane realized that he had once said that to Tally. "I never said there was."

"Exactly. You'll make a fine Special, I can tell. You were never the average pretty, even if you did take a pill."

"Thanks…?"

"Now here's the real question Zane. I can't have you and Tally being tricky with _me. _That would mess up Cutter businesses. I need you to be loyal, and not just to Tally."

Zane kept his face smooth. He knew he would never be as loyal to Cable as he was to Tally. "Got it."

"Let me elucidate that despecializing you would be no harder than taking a half baked pill. It would break Tally's heart to be made an average pretty again."

Zane's hands curled into loose fists. Dr. Cable always had a way of doing things. "You have my word Dr. Cable."

"Excellent," Cable said. "Your operation will be tomorrow." She turned to leave, and then glanced back. "Although you do have me wondering, just how much would you be willing to sacrifice for tricky little Tally?"

Zane closed his eyes, smiling at the memory of Tally and Cable's conversation earlier that week. Tally had said she would do anything to have him special.

"Anything and everything."

* * *

**A/n: i might change the chapter title, idk yet. anyway...hmmmm the war and the New Smoke, what will become of them? you can influence that, all you have to do is review!! (****i feel like i'm advertising something lol :D)**


	9. Special at last

Tally swallowed as she heard footsteps coming down the hall, towards her open door. A tall, lithe figure stepped into the room, her face cruel and gorgeous, and covered in a web of flash tattoos. Black, violet highlighted eyes sparkled in the dim light.

It was Shay, special and icy again.

Tally tried to smile as she wondered if Shay was angry with her again. "Hey Shay-la."

"Tally-wa," Shay answered. "I hear your wish is coming true."

"You mean Zane?"

"Obviously. So you'll stop making things complicated now?"

"I promised didn't I?"

A smile spread across Shay's stunning face. "You're still pretty tricky Tally-wa, getting us all captured."

"Saving you from averageness." Tally shrugged. "Maddy's cure really killed the specialness."

Shay barked a laugh. "Thanks Tally."

"Even?" Tally asked.

Shay smirked. "You and I don't have to worry about being even anymore."

Tally laughed. "Right."

They just talked for a while as they waited for the rest of the Cutters to be released from their operations. "I can't believe you led us all straight in here," Shay snorted.

"I couldn't believe you all fell for it."

Shay shook her head. "The New Smoke has to go. I'd hate to lose this iciness again."

"Tally-wa!" Tally turned, narrowing her eyes. It was Fausto. "Hey come on, no hard feelings right?"

"I jumped off a cliff with crash bracelets because you were chasing me Fausto." Tally answered frostily.

Fausto scratched the back of his head, laughing. "I was acting like a bubblehead then. I'm icy now."

Tally rolled her eyes. "Alright, just don't let them capture you next time, okay?"

"I'll do my best. Hey, I heard they're making Zane special."

"You heard right."

"Awesome!" Fausto grinned.

"Finally, no more boyfriend troubles." Shay's eyes flashed. "Except for David maybe."

Tally groaned. Shay was never going to let that go was she? "David and I were over so long ago. Zane and I are so much icier together."

One by one, Cutters entered the room, fully and completely special, as if they had never been cured.

"Zane should be joining us soon," Tachs, the last Cutter to return, said. "His operation is next."

A nervous shiver went down Tally's spine. Surely Zane would be fine…right?

"Don't worry Tally-wa," Shay said. "Dr. Cable's surgeons are the best around. Nothing's going to happen to your boyfriend."

"That had better be true," Tally muttered.

Fausto started up another conversation, and the hours dragged by. Tally contributed little to the discussion, her mind lingering on Zane. Eventually, Tally sat down against a wall and leaned her head against it.

"Something wrong Tally?"

Tally shrugged. "I'm going to sleep."

"That's not very icy," Shay complained.

Tally shrugged. "I'll be icy once Zane comes back, promise." She closed her eyes and tuned out the others, falling into catnap mode. She set her internal software to ping her every thirty minutes. She didn't want to be completely asleep if news about Zane came.

Four hours later, nothing came. Tally sighed and got to her feet.

"Well rested?"

"I guess," Tally sighed, earning a disapproving look from Shay. Tally shook her head, frustrated at herself for being so down. Zane was being made special; she should be delighted. But what was taking so _long?_

"You know Tally, a special operation isn't _that_ fast," Ho informed her.

"But yours only took a few hours!"

"We were still mostly special," Tachs reminded her. "Zane's going from new _pretty _to special."

"Crippled pretty to special," Shay corrected.

"Right…" Tally frowned. She was definitely overreacting. All she needed to do was relax and be icy for a while, and then Zane would be here with her in no time.

* * *

A day passed. Shay moved the Cutters back to their camp in the wild, but Tally stayed behind. Minutes dragged on like hours, and hours dragged on like days. But finally, a Special came to her room, where Tally was randomly looking at ideas for some new, icy-making surge.

"Agent Youngblood?"

"Yeah?" Tally stood. Was Zane's operation done?

"I'm just here to let you know about Zane's operation."

Tally's heartbeat accelerated. "How did it go?"

"You'll be able to see him in a few hours." The Special turned and left, leaving Tally staring after her. What was that supposed to mean? Had it gone wrong or not? Tally dug her sharp nails into her palms and stood there for a while before turning back to the screen. She continued to scroll through flash tattoo patterns. Her hand was still a mess of lines and she needed to fix that...

Five endless hours later, Tally got a ping.

"Tally-wa," came a familiar, but now more sharp voice.

"Zane!" Tally exclaimed, leaping up. His voice finally sounded right, being carried to her through the skintenna that all Cutters had.

"I'm coming, where are you?"

"Can't you tell using the skintenna?" Tally asked, checking to see where he was. He was moving quickly, but in the wrong direction.

"Yeah, but I don't really know this place."

Tally laughed, ecstatic. He was okay. She dashed out of the room. "Don't worry, I'm coming for you." Specials quickly made room for Tally—looking at her suspiciously—as she practically flew through the halls. Tally wondered briefly what her face looked like; probably glowing with the excitement of a littlie, flash tattoos spinning in a blur.

They had to have been spinning right off her face when she arrived. Tally turned the last corner and then halted, momentarily frozen.

A wide grin spread across Zane's face, showing his razor point teeth. His hair was exactly the same, still that calligraphy dyed bluish black. His cruel beauty was absolutely breathtaking, his perfect face even special for a Special. He finally had flash tattoos, a goregeous web of them on his face and down his arms. His eyes were slanted like a predator's, his stare more intense than ever. His irises were black, but with highlighted with a metallic gold.

Tally's head spun as her special eyes absorbed every detail of his new appearance. He was perfect. Zane was meant to be special.

A sudden need to be near and touching him unlocked Tally's frozen muscles. She threw herself at him. "Zane!" She slammed right into him, knocking them both to the ground. His strong, perfectly unshaky hands encircled her.

"Hey Tally," he laughed.

"I love you," Tally told him. He started to answer but Tally didn't let him finish. She crushed her lips against his, and Zane's words stuttered out as he began to kiss her back. A hand caressed her face, while the other arm pulled Tally's body closer to him.

Tally gripped his shoulders, getting on top of him.

"Goodness you two, can't you even wait until you get out of the _halls?"_

Tally froze for moment and then immediately got off. Zane sat up in an almost blurred movement.

It was Dr. Cable.

"Sorry," Tally giggled, her face burning.

Dr. Cable shook her head. "How embarrassing, my Cutters making out like new pretties at a party."

Zane got to his feet and Tally quickly stood. "Um…how about we pretend that never happened?" she asked Dr. Cable.

Dr. Cable waved a hand. "Please, let's." She turned to leave. "Now get to work you two. I had better not hear about these distractions from Shay."

Tally did not move a muscle until Dr. Cable's footsteps faded completely from Tally's sensitive hearing. Then, she put a hand to her face. "That was embarrassing."

Zane chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist. He was taller than her again, though not by much. "It was worth it though." He leaned down towards her face.

Tally felt herself smiling, her embarrassment quickly fading. She lifted her head, eyes closing…

_Ping!_

Tally's eyes opened and she made a gesture with her hands. Shay's voice played in her ears: _Tally, it's been a day and a half! Come back now, Zane'll be coming here anyway._

Tally sighed. So much for properly celebrating Zane's recovery.

"What's wrong?"

"Shay's getting mad. We have to go back now."

"Go back to where?"

Tally took his hand. "Cutter camp."

* * *

**A/n: Zane's finally special like he should have been in the book! :D Ok, so since Westerfeld only mentioned the names of, oh, five out of sixteen Cutters, if anyone can think of some cool names fit for a Special that i could use, plz review and let me know! i'd really appreciate it!**


	10. The Cutters

**Author's note: That had to be the longest time I've gone without updating, but i've been really busy this week, my schedule is getting hectic. K yea, who cares right, just get on with the story. ;)**

* * *

Zane flew steadily on a hoverboard just behind Tally. He grinned as she glanced back at him. Flying was so easy now, his muscles were sure and strong, his senses alert. Being special wasn't bad at all. His fears as an ugly had been foolish. Being special was bubbly, much more than bubbly.

"Tally-wa, about time," a voice said in his ear, coming through his skintenna.

"Sorry Shay-la," Tally answered. Though Tally was in front of Zane, the skintenna carried her voice to him as if she were whispering in his ear. Hearing her voice so closely sent a warm shiver down his spine.

"Hurry up," Shay commanded Tally. "We're leaving as soon as Zane comes back. We've got Diego to fix and the New Smoke to get rid of."

"Hey Shay," Zane said.

Shay paused. "In that case, we're leaving as soon as the two of you arrive, now _hurry up."_

"But what about training?" Tally asked. Training?

"We don't have time for that. He'll just have to learn as we go. Stop worrying so much Tally, you said you'd _stop making thing complicated."_

"Right, sorry Shay."

Zane frowned. What were they _talking _about? Dr. Cable had explained the basics of being a Special—or a Cutter in this case—with the skintenna and the infrared vision that Zane could activate with a twitch of his fingers, and all the chips inside him that could turn his senses even sharper. But she hadn't said much about what the Cutters were doing, and he hadn't thought to ask Tally until now, when all the other Cutters could hear every word through the skintenna.

Unless he turned it off. Zane gestured with his hands and the skintenna feed went silent. _Cool,_ he thought.

Tally turned to look at him questioningly. Zane shrugged; the motion not disturbing his riding the slightest. Tally understood quickly, for they were used to silent communication from back when they were tricky pretties.

"I'll see you in a bit Shay," Tally said and then switched off her skintenna. She slowed her board, riding side by side with Zane. "What's up?"

"What are you guys even talking about?"

"Oh. We have some work to do so Shay wants to leave as soon as we get back."

"I know, but what's up with the 'training'?"

"It's to learn about being a Cutter and how to do our jobs and stuff like that. Usually, all the new Cutters train for a while before they go on any missions but…"

"This is a special circumstance?" Zane offered.

Tally smiled, coal black eyes glinting. "You catch on fast."

Zane chuckled and stared ahead for a while, thinking. Then, he took Tally's arm, running his finger down the line of scars. "So what about the cutting?"

Tally raised an eyebrow. "You want to?"

Zane shrugged. "Not really, but now that I'm a Special, maybe you could explain what was so great about it."

Tally stared at her arm. "It's hard to explain. You have to try it to understand." She flexed one of her hands. Zane saw a scar running across her palm, which was a mess of lines—broken circulation flash tattoo, Zane guessed.

They parted for a moment to avoid a tree, and then came back together. "Almost there," Tally said.

"Anything I should know before we arrive?"

Tally shrugged. "Shay's the boss…um…you'll probably see some things you'll find a little weird at first…"

"Like cutting arms open?"

"Stuff like that."

Zane frowned. He really just couldn't understand _why _people would _enjoy _cutting themselves. He thought about slashing a blade into his sensitive flesh and suppressed a shudder. Would he be forced to try it? "Is cutting part of training?"

Tally glanced at the scars covering her arm. "Well, it gets to be more of a tradition than a assignment. I'm not sure if Shay'll _make _you try it."

Zane fell quiet as he looked at his arms. The skin was flawless and completely clean, other than the web of flash tattoos. He wondered if it would ever be like that again after the first cut. A moment later, Zane saw Tally gesture to turn her skintenna back on as she pulled ahead. Then she slowed to a crawl. Zane hovered next to her.

He could hear them now. There was a fire crackling loudly, and people shouting, though not in an alarming way. They sounded like they were having fun. They passed through the last of the branches, arriving at a campsite.

"Welcome back Tally-wa." Shay suddenly landed in front of them--probrably having jumped from a tree--her sharp teeth bared in a grin. "Welcome to the Cutters Zane-la."

Other specials began to gather around. Zane's eyes quickly perceived that they all had a line of scars down their arms. Clearly, cutting was not resisted by anyone.

"Hey Zane!" Fausto greeted. "Been a while."

"Hey Fausto." A shout filled Zane's ears and he turned to see a Cutter run barefoot across a field of burning ashes. His eyes widened. Was he _insane?_ 'A little weird at first' had been an understatement. The Cutter leapt off the flames, laughing, and then headed in Zane's direction.

"Hello Zane," said a female razor-edge voice from behind. Zane turned to face her. "I've heard quite a bit about you. I'm—"

"Introductions later," Shay interrupted. "We're leaving now." The gathered group of Cutters dispersed to fetch their hoverboards. Shay both snapped their fingers and a hoverboards drifted to her. "Tally and I will brief you as we go." Shay got onto one of her boards and began to move, the rest of the Cutters already getting into formation. They hardly brought anything other than medspray, smart plastic, and some skintenna boosters. No water purifiers or dehydrated food packets.

Shay gained speed quickly, weaving through the trees, the rest of the Cutters flying expertly behind her. Tally trailed behind at the end with Zane. "We're going to Diego," she told him in a strangely flat tone.

Suddenly, Zane felt a brief flash of anger towards the city and its 'New System'. When he had been a pretty, Diego seemed like a savior city that just might have been able to fix him. A city open-minded enough to accept and support the Smoke. But now, Zane could see the evil of it. They were giving the people _too _much freedom. People were clear-cutting there. Diego was just going to become more and more like the Rusties, along with any other cities it managed to convert, and soon humanity would crumble.

"Ending the New System?" Zane's lips curled back from his teeth. He _wanted _to end Diego's insanity before it ended the world.

Tally raised an eyebrow. "You sound excited," she commented.

Zane chuckled at her surprise. "I guess the operation helped let me see."

A small smile pulled up the corners of Tally's lips. She looked ahead, amused.

"What?"

"That's exactly what I said to David once."

An involuntary hiss slipped through Zane's teeth. _David._

_

* * *

_**A/n: Please review! i still need some more names for the rest of the Cutters so if you have any ideas... **

**And thank you to the people who have given me some suggestions so far! **


	11. Training

They were just a few miles from Diego now. The Cutters stopped that night to sleep for the first time and to find something to eat before they arrived, so that they could be at full strength when they entered. No one was willing to risk the 'cure' due to lack of food and rest, even though Specials didn't need much.

All the Cutters left to gather food except for Shay, Tally, and Zane. Shay was zipping through the rest of what Zane needed to know about being a Cutter. "Now for the cutting," Shay said, taking out a brand new ceremonial knife. Tally saw Zane's eyes narrow.

"You want me to cut myself?" he said, his voice flat.

"It's totally icy-making Zane, you can't look down on it if you haven't tried it," Shay answered calmly.

Zane glanced at Tally, who lowered her eyes. Shay sighed and turned to Tally. "Tally-wa, take out your knife please." Tally looked up at her in surprise. "Show him how it works."

Tally blinked.

"Come _on, _we don't have all night."

Tally risked a glance at Zane's face. His expression was smooth and he shrugged indifferently.

Tally took out her knife, gritted her teeth, and pressed it to her scar-covered arm. With one quick slash, Tally sliced her flesh. The delicate, fine-tuned nerves woven into her skin screamed and pain momentarily over-loaded her brain.

Then the special moment hit, and Tally's mind became clear, separated from pain and confusion.

"There you go Zane-la," came Shay's voice, piercingly sharp in her ears. "Your turn."

Tally turned to look at Zane. His flash tattoos were already spinning quickly, even before the cut. He took the knife and held out his arm, staring at the blade, glinting in the moonlight.

"It's icy Zane," Tally whispered. "Trust me."

Zane gave her a long look before pressing the blade to his flawless skin. His hand moved…

Blood trickled down Zane's arm and a surprised sound escaped his mouth. His flash tattoos pulsed madly, his face radiant. When he turned to Tally, his gaze was so intense that it even sent Tally's icy sharp mind spinning. Zane's lips parted silently for a moment.

"That's…icy," he finally managed.

Though Tally's eyes were glued to Zane's glorious face, she saw Shay smile out of the corner of her eye. "Good," she said. "Remember, if you ever need to think clearly, just about any form of pain will do."

Zane continued to stare at Tally for a long moment, until he finally tore his gaze away to look at his bleeding arm, and then at Shay. "So now what? Medspray?"

"Normally yes but this time no."

"What? So I'm supposed to bleed to death?"

Shay made a quick gesture with her fingers and gazed at Zane's cut. After a moment, she said, "Do you feel that?"

"The weird buzzing? Yeah." Zane stared at the cut as well, a curious expression on his face. "It doesn't hurt much either."

"That's the work of the nanos. They'll work to heal just about any injury." Shay gestured to his cut. "As you can see, it is already healing, the bleeding has almost stopped. If you tear or break anything, the same thing will happen."

"Which'll let you jump off a cliff," Tally muttered into her skintenna. She heard Fausto chuckle.

"Your bones are made of the same material as aircraft wings," Shay continued. "If they are ever to break, the nanos will mend them. Now turn off your skintenna Zane, and hold out your arm."

Zane obliged, while Tally turned to glare at Shay. Her mind was still icy, despite Zane's dizzy-making stare. Tally knew what Shay was planning. Shay was going to break Zane's wrist, or his arm. "No," she hissed into her skintenna in a whisper of breath.

"Don't worry Tally-wa, it won't kill him," Shay answered, her lips hardly moving. "I've done it to you before."

"He doesn't need it!"

Shay waved her hand at Tally. "Turn your head away. I recommend you close your eyes."

"Shay!" Tally growled as Zane shut his eyes, looking perplexed.

"Quiet Tally. No one said you needed to watch this," Shay snapped. "Now Zane, don't hit back, got it?"

"Got it."

"Shay…" Tally tried again. Shay glared at her and Tally sighed in defeat. Zane would live; there was no point in getting Shay mad at her again. "Fine, never mind." She turned away, waiting…

She heard the faint whooshing sound of something slicing through the air. Half a second later, Zane shouted in pain. The sound ripped through her like a knife.

Turning back around, she saw him doubled over, holding his arm. _"What the hell was that for?"_

"To demonstrate the healing ability of your bones and body," Shay answered simply.

Zane straightened a little, glaring. He winced as he slowly bent his fingers into a loose fist. "Did you really have to _break my arm_?"

"First hand experiences can be an effective way to learn."

"It wasn't really necessary," Tally muttered.

Shay turned slowly to glare at her with blazing violet highlighted eyes. Tally pricked her skin with her knife as a punishment for being too soft. It was time to think like a Special again. They had business to attend to in less than twenty-four hours.

"So now what?" Zane said. "I thought we had things to do."

"That won't be a problem."

"Having a broken arm isn't exactly convenient."

"It'll heal. Give it an hour or so."

Zane looked at his arm, skeptical.

"Sit down, take a nap," Shay said. "Tally, go get something to eat."

"But—" Tally protested, not wanting to leave Zane.

"Tally-_wa_." Shay's voice was sizzling with irritation.

Tally quickly glanced at Zane—who nodded slightly—before turning around and slipping away. Tally dug her nails into her palms. What was she _doing? _She was supposed to stop making things so _complicated. _Zane was special, so Tally was supposed to be a good Cutter now. A real Special that didn't complicate everything and mess up the world. But maybe Tally Youngblood just had some nasty, unbreakable habit of being complicated and dissatisfied, one that she couldn't break no matter how many operations she got.

"Ugh!" she hissed out loud, biting her lip so hard that she tasted blood.

"What's wrong?" came Zane's voice through the skintenna. Tally hadn't realized he had turned it back on already. In fact, she had forgotten hers was on all together.

"Nothing, just missed a rabbit," she lied.

"Since when do you hunt?" Shay asked.

"Since I escaped from Diego." Tally heard Zane chuckle. "How's the arm?"

"Great, I can make a fist."

Tally smiled. "I know how that feels—all thanks to Fausto."

"You're not planning on letting that go are you?" Fausto laughed.

"Hey, that was _really _painful," Tally said. "And they caught me because of that."

"Oh, sorry."

"Bubblehead."

* * *

Zane opened his eyes at the faint sound of swift footsteps. A female Cutter broke through the branches into the Cutters' camp. Not that there was much of anything set up.

Shay, who was catnapping a couple trees away, did not even bother opening an eye to check that everything was fine.

"Hey Zane," the Cutter said. "Kita Hawthorne, remember me?"

Zane quickly sifted through his now easily recalled new pretty memories. "Right, you were part of the Crims?"

"Yup. I gotta thank you for that, your clique was my ticket to Special Circumstances." She grinned. "How was getting your arm broken? I heard you shouting."

"How do you think?" Zane lifted his arm slightly, surprised that it no longer hurt. He made a fist. Had it healed already?

Kita laughed. "Everyone gets to experience it. Personally, I didn't enjoy it that much."

"No way, same here," Zane muttered, moving his wrist. No pain of a broken bone was evident. "Is it just me or did it heal already?"

"Probably did," Kita said.

"Go find some food Zane," Shay yawned. "Kita can take you. Or you can go find Tally."

"Kita can rest," came Tally's voice through the skintenna. Kita smiled at Zane, her eyes flashing knowingly.

"Nice seeing you again," Zane said to her before taking off through the trees, eager to meet up with Tally. He ran quickly and effortlessly, the roots and branches scattered on the ground hardly bothered Zane as they flew by beneath his feet. He sucked in a large gulp of air, smelling the forest around him…

The next thing he knew, he was tumbling to the ground, tangled with another warm body. He found himself lying on top another Cutter: Tally.

She laughed, placing her hands on his chest. "You're lucky it was me you ran into!"

If it were anyone else, Zane would have gotten off immediately. But it wasn't just anyone, it was Tally, so he stayed where he was. "I'm glad I got lucky then," he chuckled, leaning forward to kiss her. Tally grabbed his head and crushed her lips against his.

Only a few seconds had passed when Shay's voice interrupted them. "We may not be able to see you, but we can hear your make out session, and now's not the time for it."

"Sorry Shay," Tally almost giggled, a little breathless.

"Aw, too bad," Zane laughed.

"Enough you two, business first, and then you two can catch up when we have time," Shay said. "And don't even think about turning off your skintennas."

"Alright," Tally sighed, pushing Zane off of her. Zane rolled off and onto his feet.

"Okay, what's for dinner?"

Tally stood. "Um…well, we can digest almost any plants…we could hunt too. What do you want?"

Zane remembered eating the rabbits Tally had caught for him. Perhaps it was time he learned to catch food himself. Besides, the meat really hadn't been half bad. "Hunting sounds icy."

Tally raised an eyebrow and then began to talk. Zane had his infrared vision on and his senses alert when the hum of hoverboard lifter fans reached his ears. Tally heard it too.

Zane caught her stare and cocked his head towards the noise, questioning. The skintenna showed no Cutter signals that close, and all seventeen of them had it on. Tally moved forward silently, and then raised her head and sniffed the air. Her lips curled back from her teeth.

"Smokies," she growled in a voice so low that was nothing more than a whisper of breath.

"What?" several Cutters hissed.

"With a Special Circumstances hoverboard," Tally said, tensing. Zane leaned forward in a crouch, anger flashing within him.

"Thieves," Shay snarled. "Grab your boards and run with it," she ordered the Cutters. "Take Tally and Zane's too."

The humming sound was getting louder. The brilliant robber riding it was headed straight for them.

"Person's coming at us," Tally reported.

"There's more than one," Zane said, keeping his voice as low as possible.

"We're on our way," Shay said. "See if you can catch any of them."

Zane sniffed the air. He could smell it now, the smoke that clung to their skin and clothes. His lips peeled back from his teeth.

A hoverboard and its rider burst through the leaves. He swerved to a halt, eyes wide.

He was an ugly. An ugly with a big nose and a scar on his eyebrow.

* * *

**A/n: I know, my updates are coming slower and slower, but don't lose faith in me! I've been busy lately but i'll be picking up speed again soon enough. **

**Thank you to everyone that gave me name suggestions, and i'm still looking for more! I'm going to start using the ones that i know i'm going to use, but keep bringing up suggestions plz! i'll try to use all of them at some point, even if its not for a Cutter.**

**thanks to luvnit:2009, who gave me the name Kita Hawthorne and many others :D**


	12. A Warm Welcome

The Smoky stared at them with wide eyes for a moment. Stared at Tally more like. The look in his eyes sent a flash of anger through Zane. The regret and the longing. Emotions the ugly should not have for her.

"Tally," David said. Tally didn't answer. "You came back."

A hiss escaped Zane's clenched teeth. Tally hadn't come back for David. But he made it sound like she had.

"Get them!" came Shay's voice.

"It's never to late to take the cure," David continued. "To join us."

"I don't want you messing with our brains anymore," Tally growled.

"Tally, we're not the ones messing with your brain, we're the ones fixing it!"

Tally hissed at the lie, fury burning in her black eyes. Zane remembered how Tally had despised him after the nano pill had eaten away at his brain and made him a sickening cripple. So maybe it had made him permanently bubbly. But now that Zane thought of it, he never needed the pill. With Tally around, he could have cured himself too. And then they would have joined Special Circumstances together. Everything would have worked out just fine if it weren't for the stupid pills.

Anger took control of his muscles and Zane launched himself at David, reaching for his throat.

Someone knocked into him, hurtling him off course. Zane turned his head—briefly surprised by how easily he could sense what was happening—to glare at his attacker. He realized it was Tally just before they slammed into the dirt. What was she doing? Zane panicked for a moment. Did Tally still have enough feelings for David that she didn't want to hurt him?

They rolled once before Zane untangled himself and sprang to his feet, only to find an arrow flying towards him. He only managed to dodge it out of sheer reflex, feeling and smelling the electricity. They had shock-sticks.

Strangely enough, the fact sent a wave of relief through his mind. That was the reason Tally had tackled him, not because she was being protective of David.

"Stupid shock-stick cheaters," came Tachs's voice, having heard the crackle of electricity through Zane's skintenna.

Tally moved forward but then ducked and rolled to avoid another arrow. Two other Smokies appeared behind David and threw a shower of shock-sticks at them. Zane leapt back.

"Think about it Tally," David said before he started to leave. Tally started to move towards him again, but the other two threw more sticks. She stopped to dodge them. They leaned forward and picked up speed.

"Dammit!" Zane leapt over the sizzling shock-sticks in front of him and sprinted after them.

"Don't let them capture you!" Fausto warned.

"They won't," Tally answered, just a few strides behind Zane.

"We're almost there," Shay said. "Keep them in sight."

But the hum of lifter fans was already fading. "They're going too fast," Zane grunted.

"Give me Tally's board," Shay ordered someone. "Ho, take Zane's."

Zane's strides lengthened but he still couldn't go fast enough. Not even a Special could outrun the finest hoverboard Special Circumstances could manufacture.

"Those cheaters." Tally came up beside him, running just as fast.

"Tally, Zane!" Shay called, close enough for them to hear without a their skintenna. "I'm sending your boards over; get them, but don't kill them."

Zane turned as he felt a tug on his crash bracelets. Turning, he saw his hoverboard zooming at him, Tally's right next to it. He leapt up and landed on it perfectly as it arrived.

"Ready for this?" Tally asked with her teeth bared.

Zane leaned forward, picking up speed. "Totally."

"They're headed straight for Diego," Tachs said.

"We'll just have to catch them before they get there then," Tally said.

"And they'll probably get there in less than five minutes," Ho said. "Not to be pessimistic or anything, but just so you know."

"Very helpful Ho," Tally noted.

"Enough chit chat," Shay ordered. "We've got Smokies to catch, remember?"

"Sorry."

Zane pushed his board faster, leaves and twigs lashing at his skin. "Infrared," Tally whispered into the skintenna. Zane quickly used the gesture Dr. Cable had told him to use. The infrared vision overlaid his sight, and he blinked to get used to it. Not to far ahead, red-hot objects glowed as they sped ahead. The lifter fans. But where were the riders?

"I see the fans," Zane muttered into his skintenna. "But where are _they_?"

"Sneak suits," Tally answered. "Stupid Diego."

They were getting closer to the Smokies by the second, but also the city. Zane's skintenna was already picking up the city's interface. The Smokies' outlines were getting clearer…

"Duck!" someone hissed through the skintenna.

Zane and Tally flattened onto their hoverboards. Two sizzling arrows shot over their heads. More struck the ground seconds after their hoverboards flew past.

"It's a warden patrol," Tachs said.

"But they're so—" Zane swerved, an arrow missing his face by centimeters.

"Get down!" Tally hissed. Zane ducked and another four arrows flew over him.

Shay cursed. "Pull back you two. Spread out in pairs. All we need is a few captives and maybe even a hovercar. Don'tlet _anyone _get captured—that's our first priority."

"Got it." Zane and Tally swerved apart, still lying flat on their hoverboards. They made a complete turn and flew in erratic turns back towards where they came from. Arrows flew past in all directions. Zane couldn't help but panic slightly when Tally wasn't in his peripheral vision. It wasn't that Zane doubted her abilities but the thought of being on different sides again sent dread pulsing through his veins.

"Couldn't we just retreat and then invade tomorrow when there aren't fifty hundred arrows flying at us?" Zane asked.

It was Shay who answered. "David will tell them that the Cutters are back, and it'll be even more complicated to get in once they've had time to arrange patrols."

David, David, David. Why did everything have to be his fault?

A final dozen arrows shot past, and then Zane and Tally broke out of the ambush area. Tally curved to the left and Zane followed. "We're going to try and find a hole in their defense," Tally said. "Once we do, we'll slip into the city and stick some smart plastic on us."

"But we don't have their city clothes. Or sneak suits."

"Not a problem," Tally said. "People there look so random no one'll even notice as long as we keep our face hidden." She turned again, eyes scanning the trees. "See anyone?"

"Not so far."

"Let's go in. Stay low though."

They flew for a full thirty seconds before they spotted a lone hovercar. "Smooth," Tally muttered. "Hey Shay, think we'll need a hovercar?"

"If you can get one without getting caught Tally-wa," Shay answered. Tally eyed the hovercar.

"Give me your knife," Tally said, holding out her hand. Zane gave her a questioning look as he handed it over. Tally sliced her arm with both knives at once, staining the blade with crimson liquid. Then, she threw the knives into a tree as if they were darts.

"Got a plan?" Zane said.

"Climb into that tree," Tally said. "I'll leave my hoverboard at the bottom. When the warden comes out, we knock him out and jump in the hovercar, got it?"

"Sounds good." Zane leaned forward as he punched the buttons on his crash bracelets. As the neared the tree—careful to stay out of the warden's view—he leapt off and climbed up, quickly and easily. Zane perched on a thick branch, easily finding his balance. His hoverboard settled next to him just as Tally arrived without hers. It was sitting at the foot of the tree. She gave him a small smirk, one that showed her razor teeth.

As the hovercar passed, it slowed and drifted towards the bloody knives and seemingly abandoned hoverboard. It parked and a warden stepped out cautiously.

What a bubblehead. "Knock him out." Tally's voice was an inaudible whisper to anyone without a skintenna.

Zane shot himself from the tree. The warden looked up at the sound of his movement, eyes wide. Zane smashed his palm into his jaw and brought him down as Tally slipped into the hovercar. She shut off its interface.

"Shay," Tally said. "We've got a hovercar. We're leaving the warden here so someone can pick up another hovercar. They'll step out to get him and then you can attack."

"Good work Tally-wa," Shay said as Zane picked up the knives and boards. He slipped into the car next to Tally. "Tachs, Ho, you got that?"

"Sounds icy," Ho said. The hovercar lifted and started to move. Tally handed Zane a packet.

"Smart plastic. We'll have to look like wardens when we get in."

* * *

**A/n: For all of you Twilight fans who have read through Breaking Dawn, i'm starting a new Twilight fanfic: _Beyond Supernatural_. so if u like twilight, take a look! :)**

**Also, i am still taking name suggestions if u have any! **


	13. Diego

Getting in had been way too easy.

"You'd think a city under attack would have better border patrols," Tally muttered to Zane. He chuckled. Tally turned, wanting to see his gorgeous special face, but instead saw the smart plastic mask, turning his face into one of a warden. His stunning metallic gold and black eyes were hidden under brown contacts, though the golden highlights were still slightly visible. His sharp teeth were under caps. Tally touched the smart plastic on her cheek, and wondered how _random _she looked.

"Here's the plan Tally," Shay said through the skintenna. "We're all going to split up. You and Zane go to the top of the hospital and we'll take the rest from there." Tally internally cringed at the thought of going to that horrible place again. Being back in Diego was bad enough, but _no_, she had to go back to the hospital that completely messed Zane up.

"Great, I mean I totally _love _thatplace," she muttered sourly.

Zane touched her arm. "Hey, maybe we can show them how depressing their operating skills are," he said. One of the Cutters snickered.

Tally drove the hovercar towards the excuse for a hospital. There were wardens everywhere, probably waiting for another attack to come at any moment. Tally frowned at their stupidity. If they wanted to prevent the war, then all they had to do was give up the New System and let Special Circumstances help them kick the Smokies out. Then the corrupt city would be back to normal again.

No one looked at them suspiciously, until they started to rise higher. As the magnetic lifters began to lose their purchase on the metal grid, Tally waited expectantly for the lifter fans to kick in. When they didn't, she realized that the car didn't have any.

"Ugh," she growled. "_Nothing _in this stupid place _works_!" Tally dove back down. "Now we'll have to go up from the inside."

"This place has issues," Zane agreed, glaring out the window.

"That's why we're here," Shay said. "Now get moving."

Tally parked right at the door of the hospital. She and Zane got out and strolled

inside, their hoverboards floating behind them. "The top right?"

"Yes now _hurry up_."

They took off running. Middle pretty doctors stood against walls as they passed,

staring with wide eyes as they wondered what the rush was.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" An actual warden blocked their path, his hands

on his hips.

"Duty calls," Tally said, without slowing. He didn't move, so Tally flicked out her stinger and jabbed it into his neck. The warden slumped to the ground. A commotion arose behind them but no one else tried to stand in their way. Smart of them.

They were nearly on the top floor when they had their next confrontation. A line of wardens stood with sizzling shock-sticks ready in their hands. Tally and Zane stopped. "What are you two think you're doing?" one asked.

"Are you ready for us to reveal ourselves," Tally muttered into her skintenna, so low that the wardens would never hear.

"Let them have it," Shay answered.

The smart plastic covering Tally's cruel beauty crumbled onto the ground. She blinked hard, popping her contacts out and spat out the caps hiding her razor sharp teeth. She bared her teeth. "This is a special circumstance," she said. "I'd advise you get out of the way."

The wardens' eyes widened, recognizing her as the dangerous weapon. By the time they recovered enough to throw their sticks, Tally and Zane were nearly on them. Tally twisted in the air to avoid a one, and then brought her foot down on a warden's head. She leaped, landing behind them at the staircase to the roof. Zane landed beside her, two unconscious wardens behind him. They sprinted up the steps.

"We're there," Tally told Shay. There came a dull thud as Zane knocked out another following warden. Tally snickered. What made them think they could take on two 'dangerous weapons' at once?

Tally smelled, heard, and just plain sensed a shock-stick flying at her from behind even before she heard Zane's warning. She ducked as it flew past and grabbed the non-sparking end, throwing it back at the wardens. It hit one right in the face and he tumbled down the stairs. If they weren't going to fight fair, then neither was Tally. And Tally really wasn't being unfair. It was Diego's own fault that they wouldn't allow anyone to make their own Special Circumstances.

"Have to do better than that," she sneered. It felt great to be a Special, especially now that Zane was one with her.

"Ready for this Tally-wa?" Shay said. "Listen to the city interface. And tell all those wardens they might want to listen in too."

Tally checked Diego's city interface as she easily dodged another shock-stick. "Hey guys, listen up," she said, her teeth bared in a smile.

The message began with a ping; Tally heard it from both her skintenna and the hospital's loudspeaker. The ever-familiar razor-edge voice rang loud and clear in her ears.

_"Hello Diego, this is Dr. Cable, head of Special Circumstances. As we can all easily see, this 'New System' that you've let the Smoke shove upon you is destroying the balance between humanity and nature. We suggest you switch back to the proper ways and kick the Smoke out or we will have to do that for you. You have until tomorrow morning to at least decide and begin the process. We are not trying to tell everyone how to run their city, but your corrupt Smoky ways will destroy the world. This is a special circumstance."_

As the message ended, Shay wrapped up the announcement. _"He-llooo everyone this is Shay-la leader of Special Circumstance's icy special group called the Cutters. I have multiple groups of us stationed around this city, and we will be happy to help with your transition back to the proper ways and to kick out any uncooperative New Smokies. You'll recognize us I'm sure, even with your messed up surges. Oh, and remember, we're special, so don't bother picking a fight. We don't want to hurt you, but we will if we have to."_

As formal as the announcements were, it would be rather unsettling to the randoms, hearing the sharp razor-edge in their voices.

Tally smiled at the wardens. "You have three days," she said soothingly, though her voice was sharp. They looked at one another, unsure of what to do. "I think you know what the answer is."

Before the wardens could come to any conclusions, a group of uglies burst from the staircase carrying hoverboards. In the lead was David, naturally.

"Don't let them fool you!" he shouted at the wardens.

"Speak for yourself," Zane said, tensing to spring.

"No," Tally told him under her breath. "He might have the cure." Zane let out a long breath through his teeth. "What's the rest of the plan Shay?"

"Fight if they attack and stay icy. Just until tomorrow when the other Specials come."

"Sounds simple enough," Zane said, his black and metallic gold stare on David. The born-a-Smokey returned his glare.

"Talking to yourself?" David jeered.

"No, I actually have someone to talk _to_."

Another Smokey arrived then, holding a bow and carrying a bunch of arrows. Tally groaned. "Not this again." At least she could see them this time.

Arrows flew.

Tally leapt and rolled to avoid them. When she rose again, a shower of shock-sticks flew at her. _Do they _ever _run out? _she thought as she sprang back to avoid them.

Hands gripped her shoulders. Somehow, a couple of wardens had gotten behind her. She saw the glinting point of a syringe and her hand shot up to her neck, catching the arm that held it. She spun herself away, easily breaking the randoms' grip and twisted the arm until the syringe dropped and she heard the crack of a wrist breaking.

Another warden was springing at her with a cure in his hand. Tally ducked away from his predictable attack and smashed her palm the warden's jaw. "That the best you can do?" Her mind was icy from all this fighting, and the strangest thing was that—despite the risk of getting injected—Tally was really enjoying herself. She was feeling like a true Special at last. This was what she lived for.

She turned and saw several wardens surrounding Zane, trying to hit him with a shock-stick. Even that close and all around, they couldn't hit him. "Dance Zane, dance," Tally laughed as she kicked a syringe out of another person's hand and then knocked them out.

She turned again, and saw David springing at a preoccupied Zane with a syringe ready in his hand.

* * *

**A/n: Special cures and shock-sticks are annoying aren't they? **


	14. Shocksticks and Cures

Tally moved towards him.

Zane ducked to avoid the syringe and tackled David, knocking the cure from his hand. Tally let out her breath in relief. A very short-lived moment of relief. In the next second, a warden advanced with a shock-stick.

"Zane!" Tally hissed, moving towards him. "Behind—"

Zane shoved David away and moved, the shock-stick just barely missing him. Another warden advanced from behind, a syringe raised high, ready to be thrust into his neck.

"No!" Tally didn't think about her next move. She snatched up her ceremonial knife and threw.

The still bloodstained blade glinted crimson in the light as it soared through the air. It plunged into the warden's arm just above the wrist. He cried out in pain and dropped the syringe. Zane turned at the sound and leapt back, away from the dripping scarlet liquid.

Still no time for relief. It wasn't until now that Tally realized how close to the edge of the roof Zane was.

A warden lying on the ground, just behind Zane, pulled out her final shock-stick as Zane jumped over. She swung, hitting Zane's leg. He grunted as his body jerked, but he didn't go down. He staggered back a couple steps, eyes fluttering…

And toppled over the edge of the hospital.

"_Zane!_" Tally's cry clawed at her own eardrums. She grabbed her hoverboard out of the air and dove after him. If her mind hadn't been so icy from fighting, she would have forgotten it.

The fall wasn't very long compared to the one Tally had had when Fausto chased her off the cliff, but the adrenaline pulsing through Tally's veins made it seem much longer. She glanced back quickly and found Zane's hoverboard just beginning its descent. It would never make it in time. Zane's crash bracelets would save his life, but they would still tear his arm muscles, and they couldn't afford that in the middle of the city.

Tally turned on her lifter fans and dove full speed at Zane. He flipped in the air, hearing her approach. She held out her hand…

Their hands brushed as the board's magnetic lifter kicked in, but only their fingers locked. Tally felt his fingernails digging into her skin as hers dug into his. They slowed but Tally's grip was slipping.

Pain shot up Tally's arm as Zane's fingernails scarped her skin but she hardly noticed. His fingers slipped out of her grasp and he fell.

A pained hiss sounded in her skintenna as Zane's crash bracelets yanked him cruelly to a halt. They spun him around wildly. Tally followed on her hoverboard, cursing along with him the entire time.

The bracelets eventually expelled all his momentum, lowering him onto the ground. Before Tally could swoop down, the wardens were on him.

Tally dove off her hoverboard and into the throng as two other Cutters joined her: Kita and Cox.

She found Zane quickly; he was fighting with mostly kicks, teeth gritted in pain. The fall had still been fast enough to tear his muscles. Wardens pulled out shock-sticks as they realized that he was still dangerous—injured or not.

"Get him in a hovercar," Cox grunted as he smacked a warden flat in the face and thrust her shock stick at someone else.

Tally moved with inhuman speed as she cleared the way. Zane delivered a roundhouse kick before running towards the car.

Tally followed, quickly loading the hoverboards before she began to drive. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Zane panted, slowly raising an arm.

"I've had worse," Tally assured. "Just stay still and let it heal."

"Oh come on Tally," came from Fausto. "I'm fighting at the Overlook now, so who knows? We might get even tonight."

"I'd rather you didn't tonight Fausto," Shay said. "We still have a couple hours to go."

Tally turned to avoid a couple patrolling warden cars. A couple more hours to go…great. Zane would probably be fully healed within an hour, but being around special cures wasn't the most appealing idea. Maybe they could try getting the city to just hurry up and surrender before anything random happened.

"Ping Diego city interface," Tally said. "City-wide broadcast.

"_Whenever you feel like surrendering, just have all wardens drop their weapons, sit down, and line up. We Cutters will take care of the Smokies—all you have to do is go with it. Remember, we're special, and there are more of us on the way. We don't want to hurt you, but we will if we have to, and I don't think your crappy hospital can handle anymore casualties."_

The Cutters' breathing slowed slightly. Apparently, people were actually listening to the broadcast. "More of them?" came a faint voice through someone's skintenna.

"Yes, many more of us," Ho answered.

"It's not that hard to let us kick a bunch of Smokies out," Tachs said.

Tally wondered if they would really just give in. After all, just about everyone in the city had an ugly mind.

"Don't listen to them!" someone shouted. No, it wouldn't be quite that easy.

The fighting audibly resumed and Tally sighed. Unspecial people just couldn't seem to understand why having bubbleheads was _necessary_. If everyone's mind was this ugly, the world would lie in ruins soon enough.

"See if you can start rounding up the Smokies Tally-wa," Shay said. "Sack a couple of them so the regular Specials can deal with the others."

"Got it." Smokies weren't that hard to spot. All of them rode hoverboards and were uglies. Not to mention they smelled like campfire…although they may not if they lived in the Diego now.

As if to prove Tally's point, an ugly on a hoverboard zoomed past them. "Look like a Smoky to you?" she asked Zane.

"Sort of. Either way, he doesn't look very helpful."

Tally sped after him. Hovercars were faster, and Tally quickly gained on the Smoky. She looked back, eyes wide, and made a sharp turn.

Remembering her first escape from a Special Circumstances hovercar, Tally felt a ping of irritation as she turned. If she were on her hoverboard too, this chase would be easy.

"I can drive," Zane said. Tally raised an eyebrow. "What? I can lift my arms, see?"

Tally smiled, picking up her hoverboard. "Stay close, I might throw her at you." With that, she opened the door and dove out on her hoverboard. Tally leaned forward, quickly picking up speed. The girl had two choices now. Keep going and get overtaken by the hovercar, or turn and get captured by a Special on a hoverboard. Either one worked for Tally.

The Smoky looked back briefly and her expression hinted at panic. Tally smiled, flashing her teeth.

Swallowing, the Smoky tried to look defiant. "Don't smile," she said. "Your smile's really scary."

Tally felt a flash of anger and she pushed her board faster. In a couple moments, she could jump and yank the girl off her board. "I'll show you what's scary," Tally growled. The girl looked away, starting to make a turn.

Her move was predictable, and Tally launched herself off her board without worry. Her captive had no second plan. She grasped the girl's arms in her lethal hands, tackling her off the board. As their crash bracelets kicked in, Tally flicked out a needle and jabbed it into the Smoky's neck. Her eyes rolled up into her head as her crash bracelets began to spin her.

A moment later, Tally felt her own crash bracelets yank by the wrists roughly. They spun her around, but Tally could see what was happening in the spinning world around her. Her hoverboard was coming for her.

As the spinning slowed, Tally lifted herself up higher by her arms and jumped back onto her hoverboard. She looked back to see Zane loading the Smoky into the hovercar. Tally barked a laugh. "That was too easy."

Special Circumstances arrived exactly at the break of dawn.

* * *

**Author's note: Lol, i gotta say i liked the reaction I got from people when it appeared that Zane might be in danger of being cured. ;)**

**The name Cox was suggested by, once again, luvnit:2009. Thank you, and everyone else that has suggested names so far, and I'm still taking more if anyone has anymore ideas!**

**At this point, the plot can take a variety of turns, so I am to suggestions for that as well. :)**


	15. Out with the New and in with the Old

The sound of lifter fans filled Zane's special ears as Special Circumstances hovercars streamed in overhead.

The Smokey Zane had been chasing on his hoverboard looked up, eyes wide in dismay. In the moment's distraction, Zane snatched grabbed the Smokey off of his hoverboard and stabbed a stinger into his neck.

Zane grimaced as his crash bracelets kicked in. His shoulder muscles had healed already, but they were still a little stiff. As they lowered him to the ground, Zane got back on his hoverboard and rode towards Tally. "Took them long enough," he muttered.

Tally bared her teeth in a smile. "Now that they're here, why don't we go looking for the big Smokey prize?" she offered.

Zane felt the corner of his lips pulling upward. "David?"

Tally nodded. "I bet Dr. Cable would love that almost as much as Maddy would," she said.

Zane felt a flash of anger. Maddy, the woman who had called Tally pretty-headed when she hadn't been, and had managed to blame Zane's brain damage on Tally. It was her own fault for making risky nano pills.

"I like the sound of that."

Tally swerved and Zane followed. Specials were beginning to station themselves around the city. Wardens shook violently with anxiety as they clutched their precious shock-sticks. Tally barked a laugh at a couple as they flew by.

"Round up the Smokies," Shay ordered. "Before they can escape. If you can find Maddy or David, get them."

"Just what we were doing," Zane said.

"Great, Fausto, make sure no one jumps off the Overlook. They might've gotten that icy escape plan from Tally's example."

"Not you too," Fausto groaned.

Suddenly, a figure—riding on a hoverboard and wearing a battle armor mode sneak suit—leapt up and swung a shock-stick at Zane's face. He ducked, wobbling a little on his hoverboard. The figure swung again, and this time Zane jumped to dodge.

The sneak suited figure's board suddenly disappeared from beneath it. He or she cried out in surprise—the sound distorted through the mask—as the crash bracelets kicked in.

"Nice," Zane commented to Tally.

She grinned. "Saved your ass."

Zane grabbed the figure's arm, but spikes protruded from his suit and cut Zane's hand. He hissed as he let go, the experience all too familiar. Instead, he grabbed the person's hood as he leapt off his board and yanked it off.

He was an ugly. A familiar face from Zane's ugly days.

"Croy?"

The ugly glared at him. "It's been a while Zane."

Zane bared his teeth. "It sure has."

"So are you going to capture me now?" Croy spat. "Special Circumstances agent Zane?" He took a step back.

Zane took a step forward. Croy would probably make a pretty decent Special.

Defiance sparked in his eyes and lashed out, sneak suit rolling with spikes. The move was predictable, and Zane easily leaned back to avoid it. He flicked out a fresh needle…

Zane heard something whistling through the air at the same moment that Tally shouted, "Duck!"

Zane flattened himself onto the ground. Something stabbed into the ground less than a yard away.

It was Tally's ceremonial knife, stained scarlet with blood. Zane's heart pounded as he jumped to his feet, eyes scanning his surroundings.

Croy was back on his board, hood over his head once more. Next to him, was another person wearing a sneak suit, but without the hood. Anger boiled beneath Zane's skin.

David. Again. Messing everything up as always.

Zane hissed and lunged for his throat. The smell of electricity filled his nose and Zane twisted to avoid a shock-stick. His fingernails narrowly missed David's face.

"Nice try buddy," David hissed, beginning to escape with Croy. Anger distorted Zane's mind as he skidded across the ground.

Tally leapt past him with a fresh stinger needle, but David pulled his hood over his head. Both Smokies' sneak suits went into armor mode, making Tally's needle useless. Both lashed out with shock-sticks. Tally managed to avoid them, but landed awkwardly.

They made their escape, tossing a couple more shock-sticks to block Zane and Tally's path. "Don't they ever run out of those?" Zane hissed in frustration.

"Let them go," came Shay's voice. "We don't need any more despecialized Specials right now. Get over here." Zane bared his teeth, his entire body itching to pursue. Tally stared after them as well. "Tally. Zane. Now."

Tally slowly straightened out of her crouch. "Fine." Her black eyes glinted, still staring after the Smokies. Then she turned and got on her hoverboard.

Pushing the dizzying anger out of his mind, Zane retrieved his hoverboard and rose into the air. He brushed hands with Tally before they took off.

"Wait," Tally said suddenly. "Shay, when you said 'we don't need any _more _despecialized Specials…"

"Someone's been despecialized?" Zane finished.

"No Cutters," Shay said. "Just a couple of regular Specials. That's why we need you here. It's our job to round up the cured Specials and capture them so they can be made into real Specials again."

"Oh." Tally frowned. "But they cure doesn't work right away, so how can we tell?"

"Oh you'll know, Tally-wa, you've seen a lot of cured Specials before."

Tally looked around, thoughtful. "Diego still hasn't surrendered?"

"Not everyone," Tachs said. "Most of the people who weren't runaways have."

Zane blinked, wondering if his Crim friends were the ones fighting. Or if they'd be bubbleheads forever after they got captured.

"Can you imagine a world like this?" a Cutter grumbled. "Where everyone's mind is so ugly that they're stupid enough to fight half of Special Circumstances."

Tally laughed darkly. "Sounds just like the Smoke."

Some other Cutters were coming into view now, standing out even among all the other Specials—with their pulsing flash tattoos and scar covered arms. Random Diego citizens were on the ground, cuffed and being loaded onto hovercarriers.

"Are they going to get the pretty operation?" Zane asked.

"If they're supposed to be a pretty." Tally snorted. "Who know? Some of those pretties could be old enough to be a crumbly for all we know."

Zane shook his head, wondering how he'd once been bubbleheaded enough to think that Diego had the right idea of giving everyone so much freedom. Even if Specials did have a different type of lesion in their brains, at least it wasn't something that would cause this kind of disorder.

"So is the war over?" a Cutter asked.

"With Diego? Yes," Shay said. "But with the New Smoke, no."

And for some reason, Zane smiled at that. There were still Smokies to capture and runaways to stop.

As Diego's New System crumbled around them—ending their mission—a new one was just beginning.

* * *

**A/n: So where will the Smokies go now? hmmmm...**


	16. Tricky

"We'll run a few patrols a couple miles away from the city," Shay said, explaining their new schedule as they hoverboarded out of Diego. Special Circumstances had gotten everything under control. In fact, they were already starting standard operations at the hospital. "Then we'll hoverboard home and see if our little uglies hear from the New Smoke."

"And what about all the cured pretties?" Tally put in.

Shay shrugged. "I'm thinking about sending some Cutters in to pretend to be pretties. I'll bet you and Zane are good at speaking fluent pretty."

Tally groaned. "I think I've had enough of that."

"Give someone else a chance," Zane chuckled.

"Anyway," Shay continued. "Every pretty who goes in for a new surge'll be getting fresh lesions put in. We'll figure out the rest after the cured pretties start catching on."

"How do you know it'll work?" Zane said. "Fresh lesions didn't keep me from staying bubbly."

Shay looked back at him, her eyes narrowing for a moment. Then she laughed. "Trust me Zane, you were a pretty special circumstance. I'm going to guess most of those pretties got cured _without _chewed up brains."

Tally winced at the memory.

A few Cutters started to chuckle, but then abruptly fell silent. Tally stiffened as they all slowed, her senses reaching out for the danger. She twitched her fingers and infrared overlaid her vision.

"Get down!" several voices hissed.

Tally flattened herself on her hoverboard as something flew over the Cutters' heads. Then, that something exploded, sending everyone spinning.

Shay recovered first. "This way," she said. Tally wrenched her hoverboard out form its spin and shot after Shay. The other Cutters followed soon after.

"What was that?" Tally said, her pulse quickening.

"Not sure," Tachs answered. "But I don't think we really need to find out."

"Okay then, who threw that?"

"That's exactly what we're going to find out instead," Shay answered, making a sharp u-turn. Cutters swerved out of her way and then followed. Tally pulled up beside her, flying just a little behind.

"So what's the plan?"

"Specials don't need plans."

Tally grimaced. "Helpful. Thanks."

"Anytime Tally-wa." Shay rode on her hands and knees now, visibly tense and ready to dodge. Tally imitated the riding stance, senses sharp and alert. Zane pulled up next to her.

Arrows streaked through the air. All the Cutters flattened themselves as they turned, the smell of electricity filling the air. "Get them," Shay ordered.

Tally turned—still lying flat on her hoverboard—towards the direction the closest arrow had been shot at her. She felt the strong urge to look back and see how Zane was doing, but she resisted. _Stay icy_, Tally reminded herself.

More arrows streaked at her. Tally's hand shot up reflexively and snatched a close one out of the air. It spluttered in her hand, and Tally threw it with deadly precision at a figure in the trees. She heard a grunt as the figure collapsed.

Two Cutters—Syth and Jaire—streaked past her. They each snatched up an arm of Tally's victim and carried him or her off.

"Nice one Tally-wa," came Zane's voice.

Before Tally could reply, a buzzing sound came from his skintenna. "Are you okay?" Tally asked when it passed.

"Missed," Zane said.

As Tally turned again to avoid some more arrows, she saw him. He was holding two spluttering arrows in one hand as he flew. Then he threw them both into the trees, and there came a faint thud.

"Who's attacking us?" came Cox's voice.

Jaire answered. "This person here looks like a pretty."

"_Looks _like a pretty?"

"Well, she's got really pale skin and—"

Tally dove. An arrow passed by so close to her back that she could feel the sparks of electricity flying from it. Her back tingled.

"Cutting it close Tally-wa?" Shay said.

Tally opened her mouth to answer, and then stopped. There was a person in her sight. Tally flew lower, ready to flick out a needle and knock out the person.

The figure bent over and then pulled something. Then, she disappeared.

Tally slowed. Surveying the area for danger with her other senses, Tally kept her gaze at the exact place the figure had disappeared. As she neared, she saw the irregularity of the ground. "Hey Shay," Tally whispered. "They're going underground."

Shay snickered. "Tricky aren't they? I'm on my way. Zane, Fausto, Kita, and Cox, you're coming with me."

"Should I go in?" Tally said, looking around.

"Hide your hoverboard."

Tally landed in a patch of fallen leaves. She quickly covered her hoverboard and then crept to the underground entrance. Running her hand over the unnaturally smooth ground, she found a short rope. Tally pulled, and the door slid open soundlessly. "Tricky," Tally agreed.

She was about to lower herself in when the others arrived. Shay jumped off her hoverboard and knelt by the entrance. "Kita, hide them," she said. Then she placed a hand on the ground next to it and jumped in.

Tally peered into the hole, Zane coming up next to her. "Your turn Tally-wa," came Shay's voice through the skintenna.

"Don't let me land on you Shay-la."

She stepped forward and fell. Darkness engulfed her senses, the walls close and pressing. Tally's hands shot out, catching some type of hand ladder. "Just drop Tally," Shay said.

Tally let go. She fell for another moment before dirt met her feet, her knees bending to absorb the impact. She blinked—her eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness—and saw Shay's form before her, glowing in infrared.

"I'm coming down," came Zane's voice. Tally quickly moved towards Shay, who turned and darted down the narrow passageway. Tally followed, bending down. She was too tall for the small tunnel.

"I see someone." Shay's voice was just a whisper of breath, too low for anyone without a skintenna to hear.

At the same moment that Zane's feet touched the ground with a nearly inaudible thud, Shay sprang into action, her lethal hands lashing out.

"You got them Kayne?" came Kita's voice through the skintenna as Tally tried to perceive Shay's fight.

"Heck yeah."

Someone fell to the ground at Shay's feet. She pressed herself against the wall of the tunnel and shoved the person at Tally. "Get him out."

Tally gripped the person's shoulders and lifted his unconscious form. She passed him to Zane, who said, "Hey Fausto, catch."

"Are you—" Fausto grunted.

Tally's lips twitched. She turned and found Shay already slipping away through the passageway. "Crap." She followed.

A fingertip trailed lightly down her spine. Tally whipped around, hands curling and ready to fight. She came face to face with Zane's stunning metallic-gold highlighted eyes.

"Zane!" Tally almost giggled.

He laughed quietly and leaned forward. Their lips met.

It took Tally a long moment to realize that Shay's light footsteps had almost faded completely._ We'll have time after we explore the tunnels_, she reminded herself and then pulled back, mouthing, "Later."

Zane smiled wistfully, and then nodded. Tally turned and sprinted after Shay, her head spinning dizzily. More light footsteps reached Tally's ultra sensitive ears as Cutters slipped through the hole. Shay bent down lower and lower, and eventually started to crawl.

The tunnel seemed to get smaller and smaller, to the point where Tally was on her hands and knees. Finally, Shay stopped and Tally caught up to her. "About time Tally-wa," Shay said.

"Sorry."

Shay flattened out onto the ground, stuck her arms through a hole, and pulled herself through. Once Shay's feet disappeared, Tally followed. Her hands found some kind of metal handle to grip, and Tally effortlessly slid through. She stood.

The underground room was much larger than the tunnel had been. The roof was several meters above Tally's head and there were multiple paths that they could take. They were all small holes, like the one that Tally and Shay had just slipped through.

Zane came up next to Tally. He whistled quietly. "Looks like they've been doing some digging."

"Who are they?" Fausto said as he stood beside them.

Tally shook her head, looking around at all the different passageways. "The real question is where do all these tunnels _go_?"

* * *

**A/n: Sorry for the slow updating, I'll try to get the next chapter up faster.**

**Anyway, the names Syth and Jaire were suggested by luvnit:2009 and the name Kayne was suggested by Emotional Hummingbird. Thanks for your help and yes, I am still taking names if anyone still has ideas for me ;)**


	17. Tracking

Shay's face was calm as most of the Cutters gathered inside the underground room. "We'll split up," she said. "Tally and Zane, Kita and Cox…"

Tally turned to Zane, not paying attention to the rest of the groups. His lips twitched up in a smile.

"You two go that way," Shay said, pointing. "Report where your tunnels lead to and then we'll all meet back here unless I say otherwise. Get going and _don't _distract yourselves." Though Shay's tone and expression were serious, her eyes glinted knowingly.

Tally's face burned. "We'll keep that in mind," she muttered. Cox snickered and Tally bared her teeth at him, before slipping through her assigned tunnel.

Once again, the walls were too close for comfort, almost pressing against her on every side. Tally quickly crawled until she could crouch effectively. There was hardly any light at all and she wondered where that little bit of light even came from. She squinted, even her special eyes not seeing perfectly without infrared.

"How do they even get around in this place?" Tally said.

"Must be used to being blind," Zane grunted as he gestured with his fingers for infrared.

The tunnel slowly widened enough for Tally to slip through with bent knees and hunched shoulders. She stared ahead into the endless darkness, her ears alert.

"Wait," she breathed into the skintenna, stopping. Zane's footsteps halted and Tally strained to hear.

Her ears picked up something, the slightest thuds of careful footsteps. "I hear someone."

"Same." The word was like a breath, inaudible to even special ears without a skintenna.

Tally crouched slowly, gingerly placing a hand on the ground, the chips helping her to listen with her entire body.

Tally closed her eyes, listening.

The person was definitely ahead of them in the tunnel. The vibrations of his or her footsteps were slowly getting lighter as the person moved farther away…

Tally opened her eyes and darted soundlessly down the tunnel. "Where are we going?" Zane asked, following.

"I don't know. Capturing." Tally quickened her pace. They traveled in silence for a solid five minutes before the person's footsteps became clearly audible. Tally's muscles tensed, ready and screaming to capture.

Abruptly, Zane's close presence faded. Tally turned and found him standing perfectly still, hands curled into claws and eyes darting around. At the same moment, Tally felt an uncomfortable twisting inside—her instincts alerting her of some kind of danger.

They waited in perfect silence for a moment. Nothing happened. Tally cautiously took a step forward. Then another.

A bright light momentarily blinded Tally and she leapt back. A smell burned her nose.

But it was too late. Pain exploded down her spine and her world went black.

* * *

"Tally!"

Zane caught her limp form before she hit the ground and hauled her back several steps. Then he crouched over her, trying to find the source of the attack. He blinked furiously as his eyes readjusted to the gloom again. Anger pulsed through him, messing up his thinking.

In infrared, a couple white spots were slowly fading. They were tiny holes in the wall. A trap.

Zane checked his skintenna but no Cutters were within his range. He cursed under his breath. What did he do now?

"Tally-wa?" he whispered, shaking her lightly. She didn't stir. Zane leaned in closer and saw that her flash tattoos were still moving at least. Zane shook her again but got nothing out of her.

Zane bared his teeth, frustrated. Everyone these days were cheaters, from using shock-sticks and cures to setting traps in tunnels where you could barely see where you were going. Specials were special, but this was pushing it.

Zane dug his nails into his palms. Sitting around and complaining about unfairness wasn't about to help him. He stared ahead, listening for footsteps again. They were fading quickly.

He couldn't just leave Tally here and follow. _That _was out of the question. So now the problem was, how did you wake up a knocked-out-cold Special?

_Stay icy_, the Cutters tended to say. And if icy meant how you felt after you cut yourself…

Zane pulled out his knife. So much for his past aversion to cutting. He slashed his wrist.

His muscles and nerves screamed as they were split. Zane waited for the moment of icy clarity.

How did he manage to miss these things? It was incredibly obvious. Even pretties knew how to wake each other up. _Bubblehead, _Zane thought as he took Tally's arm. His vision was icy clear; it didn't seem so dark anymore. Carefully, he pressed the knife to her wrist and made a shallow incision.

Half a second later, Tally's fingers curled and her other hand shot out. Her fist closed around air where Zane's neck had been a moment ago. Then her cruel pretty face was inches from his, her teeth bared and flash tattoos spinning. Zane paused, tempted to take advantage of the close proximity of Tally's face. Before he could decide though, she blinked and then sat back.

Zane chuckled. "Do Specials always wake up like that?"

Tally's eyes narrowed but her lips twitched with amusement. "Only when you get a wake up call like that." She shifted into a crouch. "Now what's happening?"

Zane pointed. "There's some kind of trap there. It must've shot something to knock you out. And that person we heard is getting away."

Tally's midnight eyes glinted. "Cheaters."

"Exactly what I was thinking." _Stop getting distracted,_ Zane told himself. "Do you know how you set off that trap?"

"Just take a couple steps forward and there you have it," Tally grumbled.

Zane eyed the general location of the trap. The tiny holes had cooled off and he could no longer locate them in infrared. "Stay here," he said.

Tally looked at him inquisitively. "What do you plan on doing?"

"Something icy." He turned, muscles bunching as he prepared to spring. Tally shifted behind him.

Zane launched himself forward.

Light took over his vision again and the peculiar burning smell entered his nose. But Zane was expecting it. His special senses told him how close the tunnel floor was without needing his vision. His fingernails dug into the ground and he thrust himself forward into a somersault. Then he flattened himself onto the ground, heart pounding.

With a feeling of triumph, Zane noted that he was still conscious. He got back onto his feet.

"Very icy," Tally commented.

"Thanks," Zane said, pleased. "Your turn."

"Get out of the way," Tally warned. Zane pressed himself against the walls of the tunnel.

Tally leapt, with the deadly spped and grace of a predator. The trap went off, and for a split second, Zane's stomach twisted with anticipation. Then Tally's body somersaulted past him and he let out a breath of relief. It was gratuitous to worry, Tally was just as special as him, probably even more.

As the lights faded again, Zane and Tally faced each other. Her lips pulled over her sharp teeth in a smile. "This just got a whole lot more interesting."

* * *

**A/n: Sorry for the incredibly slow update!! I could have been trapped in the center of the earth based on the speed this chapter got up. I don't know what happened there but don't lose faith in me! I will continue this story so keep checking back. Btw more reviews do help remind me that I have to get another chapter up ASAP, just so u know ;)**


	18. Worse than Cures

Something whistled through the air.

Zane leapt forward, diving to the ground. A second later, a dull thud echoed through the tunnel as several arrows hit the walls. They sputtered.

"Tally?" Zane whispered.

"Right here," she answered, a couple yards in front of him. "I think we're almost there. The tunnel's widening."

They continued. So far, they had encountered three traps. Only Specials could have reacted fast enough to get past them.

"There it is." Suddenly, Tally was flat on the ground, sliding through the small hole near the ground. Zane followed as her feet disappeared.

For a moment, Zane was almost expecting something to come crashing down on his head as he slipped through. Nothing did though, and he got to his feet.

Candles were set around the perimeter of the room, dimly lighting the otherwise empty space. There was enough room for about twenty people to fit inside comfortably. Straight ahead was a door, set slightly into the wall with chains crossed over and several locks hanging from them.

Eying the gray walls warily, Zane took a couple quick strides forward and then lifted a lock. Memories of the pretty days he'd spent with Tally crept into his mind.

"We need a key to get in here," he said.

Tally nodded, coming up beside him. "Makes you wonder what they're keeping in there." Her eyes swept over the curtain of thick chains that were obviously meant to block anyone's entrance. "Probably not something they should be keeping."

"So how do we get in? There's no high tower for us to climb this time."

Tally laughed quietly, palming the lock with a thoughtful expression on her face. Suddenly, she stiffened and spun around, eyes intent on the tiny entrance.

Zane cut off his breath as he turned and found hands reaching through the hole. They were calloused and unevenly tanned, and no flash tattoos laced his or her exposed arms. It couldn't be a Cutter.

Just as the person's short, dark hair became visible, Tally sprang into action. She swept past Zane, flicking out a stinger needle. She grabbed the person's hair and stuck it into his neck. A small cry escaped his throat, and then he was still.

Zane blinked. The whole process had taken less than five seconds. Now Tally was dragging the body into the room. The person was an ugly boy, probably about seventeen.

"Check his pockets," Tally instructed Zane. "Maybe he has a key."

As it turned out, he didn't have one although Tally did find a smart matter hacker. Zane on the other hand, found a strange metal object. It was small, thin and easily bent.

"Why would he carry this around?" Zane asked, holding next to the light of a candle flame.

Tally frowned, looking at it. "I think it's called a paperclip."

"A what?"

"Something that Rusties used to hold papers together."

Zane stared at it. How could this crooked piece of metal possibly hold paper together? "I don't see how that works."

"I don't either. But I think people used to open locks with them."

Zane raised an eyebrow, not even bothering to ask where in the world she had learned these things. "Okay…how do you do that?"

Tally took it from him, her fingers brushing his hand. A warm shiver ran up his arm.

Tally picked up the lock in her hand and stuck one end of the 'paperclip' into the hole. Zane watched curiously as she concentrated, moving it around. Eventually, there was a click and lock popped open.

"Nice."

Zane and Tally quickly ripped the chains off. That was when they realized that there was no doorknob.

"_What _the _hell_?" Tally said, exasperated. "How do these people get into this room? Walk through the wall?"

Zane turned back towards the ugly boy lying on the ground. "I think that's close enough."

"What? Zane, even Specials can't walk through solid—"

Zane picked up the matter hacker and grinned at her. "We can walk through smart matter."

Tally opened her mouth and then closed it. "Oh."

Zane put the hacker against the smooth surface of the door and got it started. The smart matter rippled and Zane pressed his hand against the surface. Slowly, it sunk through.

"_Sweet!_"

With that, Tally pressed her hands into the matter, her arms going through. Then she pressed her face into it, her body slowly passing through the wall.

"Told you we could walk through walls," Zane muttered before sticking his face into the waving gray matter. It was an odd sensation—walking through a door.

Zane actually bumped into Tally, who apparently forgot to move, when he arrived on the other side. He cleared his mind of temporarily forbidden thoughts and pulled his last limb through the door, along with the matter hacker. Then he turned and faced the room.

It had shelves on ever wall, with some random looking items jammed onto all of them. Mercifully, there were actual _lights _on the ceilings.

At first, Zane wasn't sure why Tally looked so pale. "What?"

Tally took a few steps forward, her nimble fingers warily picking something off the shelves. She looked at the small little item as if it was an old acquaintance that she had hoped never to see again.

"Seriously Tally, _what_?"

She turned to face him, a strange look in her black eyes. "Nanos."

"What do you mean?"

"Nanos, in hunger form."

"You lost me."

"They eat everything they touch and reproduce."

To Zane, the only image that brought up was his brain being half eaten. He shuddered at the thought. "So you mean they have a new kind of cure? Just in a really huge dose?"

Tally's eyes were dark. "No, Zane, these are even worse." She placed it back on the shelf, so carefully that it barely made a noise.

"Why are you being so careful with it?"

Tally's eyes swept the room. "The things in here are worse than cures. They're weapons."

* * *

**A/n: I meant to post this a couple days ago but some things came up so...Yeah, who cares, anyway...**

**Ok, my updating has been insanely erratic lately, so I'm going to post updating statuses for my stories on my profile page. I'll just be giving an estimate on when the next chapter will be ready so you won't always have to be sitting there wondering if I'm still writing ;) And i will try to update faster!**

**Review and let me know what you think! At this point, the storyline is pretty flexible so I'm open to suggestions!**


	19. Ambush

_"They're what?"_

"Nanos," Tally repeated to Zane for the fifth time. "They're like war weapons. One of these things could destroy an entire city if you don't keep it under control. I've seen it eat a huge hole in the ground before." Tally shuddered, remembering the nervous-making moments during which she checked herself for silver Tally-eating tendrils.

"_Why _would the Smokies want to eat the world?"

"I don't _know_." It wouldn't really make sense to destroy everything _including _the Earth itself. What would the Smokies want that for?

Tally looked around the room. There were some flash bombs too, and a couple small inactive drones. That didn't make any sense either.

"We should probably tell Dr. Cable."

Zane pursed his lips. "I don't know. She'll probably freak and send some more military stuff here."

Tally bit down on her lip until she tasted blood. Dr. Cable's military freaks were part of the reason Zane almost died. And of course, that had happened because of Tally's carelessness. Yet here she was, suggesting stupid ideas all over again.

When was she going to learn to think things through?

Zane's eyebrows slowly pulled closer together. "Tally? Is something wrong?"

"No. Just…thinking," Tally lied, trying to concentrate. "Uh, so should we do?"

"Um…uh…well…" Zane eventually closed his mouth and shrugged.

Tally sighed and pulled out her cutting knife. She was about to press it to her scarred arm when Zane grasped her wrist. She looked up—surprised—into his metallic-gold highlighted eyes.

"I thought you said you didn't do that anymore." His intense gaze was scalding.

"I…but…wait, you did it yourself," Tally spluttered.

Zane frowned. "Well…I'd prefer to leave it to emergencies."

Tally stared at him. Not one other Cutter had ever objected to Shay's cutting. Not even Tally herself. Did Zane even have a special mind?

Then again, Zane had always been more special than anyone else.

"O…kay. Uh, so…do you want to ask Shay?"

Zane had an odd expression on his face.

"What?"

"Why Shay?"

The question caught Tally off guard. "Because she's sort of the Boss?" It came out like a question. So unspecial-sounding.

Zane's eyes narrowed. "So you just follow her orders like…pretties?"

_Bubbleheads?_ Tally's mind was spinning in a not so pleasant, dizzy-making way. Zane so did not just compare her to a pretty! Following Shay's orders wasn't bubblehead-like…right? Shay was just a lot icier when it came to thinking then the others, and thinking all wrong could lead to issues. And it wasn't like they _never _disobeyed her orders. Tally sure proved that while they were tracking Zane.

"I disobeyed orders before," Tally finally pointed out. "When I followed you."

Zane opened his mouth to answer but then stopped. They stared at each other for a moment, frozen.

The door was still open.

They were facing away from it, arguing with each other, distracted from their original mission.

And now there were sounds that were way too close.

Very slowly, they turned around, muscles tense and hearts pounding.

At the entrance, stood an ugly boy, a shock-stick in his hand. Behind him, Tally could hear the breathing of more people.

Tally opened her mouth, her throat parched and arid. Still, a name rolled off of her dry tongue. "Croy?"

His expression was guarded, cautious. "It's been a while Tally." His eyes flickered to Zane.

"Croy," Zane echoed. Tally realized that they knew each other too, from when Zane was an ugly—something that Tally had never been able to imagine. Zane, an ugly? Impossible.

_That's completely unrelated bubblehead_, Tally reminded herself.

"There are more of them outside," Tally said into her skintenna through an inaudible whisper of breath. "Should we fight them?" She waited, and then became alarmed when Zane did not answer. He didn't look like he'd heard at all. "Zane?"

Tally dared a glance at his face and saw his lips shivering, as if he were talking. But no sound came through to her skintenna. In fact, she didn't even hear his breathing. A chilled ping of realization went through Tally. Somehow, Croy and his friends had jammed their skintennas.

They were always a step ahead.

No! _Specials _were the ones who were supposed to be a step ahead, not these randoms.

Tally's hands curled into claws. Something was wrong with her. She needed a cut. She needed to clear her head. She couldn't though, because Zane was standing right next to her.

Fight or run? But where was there to run to? Maybe they could lead them to the big place where all the tunnels met. There was more room to fight there…

"Tally," Croy said, bringing her full attention back to him. "It's not too late to change. David has a cure"—Zane hissed at the name—"and we can find him quickly. You know that—"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Tally abruptly screeched. Croy looked a little surprised. _"Stop screwing with my head!"_ With that, Tally launched herself forward. Croy swung his stick at her, but—a step ahead or not—Tally was still faster. She spun around the sizzling stick and grabbed Croy's wrist, flipping him over and away from the door.

Tally was halfway out when the others were all on her. Electricity burned her nose as Tally made a mad dash through the mob of attackers. Her fingernails clawed at anything they found purchase on, and the crackle of the shock-sticks drowned out the pounding of her heart. The whole time, Tally was anticipating the pain of a stick finding its target.

By some miracle, she made it past them all and dove into the tiny exit. She scrambled forward, the darkness pressing against her. At least it wasn't as bad as armed people.

Shouts echoed behind her. All she had to do was make it back to the room and then she could fight.

Sudden light filled her vision and Tally dove forward as a volley of arrows sailed over her body. She did a somersault and kept going. Every time a light flashed, Tally dove. She thought she heard cursing behind her but she just couldn't tell anymore.

There was something tugging at the back of her mind, trying to be noticed, but Tally couldn't put her finger on it. Besides she had to escape first.

Finally, the tunnels widened again. Tally launched herself through the small hole and the wideness of next room greeted her. She whipped around, ready to fight.

The first of her pursuers came through. The person swung a stick wildly over her head, clearly trying to keep Tally away. The moves were predictable, and Tally flicked out a stinger needle and stabbed the person's neck through the attack.

She waited for the next person. No one came and Tally took a step back, suspicious. Finally, she hauled the unconscious body out of the entrance. Still no one. Not even breathing.

That something appeared on her skintenna. Jaire and Syth, heading towards her.

Suddenly, the nagging in the back of Tally's mind finally made itself clear.

Zane.

_"Shit!" _Tally spouted more curses as her mind spun dizzily.

"Tally, what's going on?" came Jaire's voice. Not the voice she wanted to hear.

"Shut up! _Shut up!_" Tally whipped out her knife and slashed her arm. Her nerves screamed for a moment before the icy clarity took its place. The weapon room. It had to have another exit. Whoever built the tunnels—most likely the Smokies—probably wasn't stupid enough to only build one exit to such an important room. The rest of them could already be on their way to another place by now.

With Zane in tow.

"Tally, what's going on?" came Syth's voice.

"I told you to shut up!" Tally dove back through the hole again.

"Tally! Where are you going?"

"I'm following them!"

"What?"

"I'm getting Zane back!" Because it was her fault that he got caught.

Like usual.

* * *

"Where are you _going?"_ came Syth's voice.

"I _told _you already!" Tally snapped impatiently, barrelling through tunnels. No traps were set off. Eventually, she slipped through the hole and found a person starting to seal the smart matter wall. Tally flung herself at him, tackling him to the ground. She knocked him out without a stinger, too pissed off to make the process painless. She snatched the matter hacker and worked on fixing the entrance to the weapon room.

She was almost all the way through when Syth shouted, "Tally! What're we going to do with this guy?"

"I don't care! Just leave him there." Tally pulled her leg through and scanned the room. Half the weapons were gone already. Not a good sign.

Syth's fist pounded against the door. "Let me in!"

Hissing in exasperation, Tally put the matter hacker back on the door.

"Hey, that's cool!" Syth exclaimed as she slipped inside, her body literally going through the matter. Her eyes widened as she took in the room. "Okay, _that's _not. What is this stuff?"

"Nanos in hunger form." Tally stormed around, looking for another exit.

"What?"

"They eat everything." Tally worked her way around, feeling the walls, pressing the matter hacker to them.

"That's...uncomfortable. Would they even eat--"

"Syth! Stop acting like such a bubblehead and _focus_!" Tally snapped. Syth _could_ be icy, but sometimes...

Her eye caught a piece of metal in the wall. Gripping it, Tally pulled.

Nothing.

"Here, lemme try," Syth said. Tally just crossed her arms and moved out of the way, looking around the room for another possible exit. "Aha!"

Tally turned around. Syth had somehow uncovered a three feet tall door. "How did you do that?"

Syth winked. "Specials are magical, didn't you know?"

Tally bared her teeth. "I'm a Special too you know." She slipped through the door.

"Oh, um, well you're just a little stressed," Syth revised.

The door led them to a rather wide tunnel, sloping upward. Before Syth was even through the door, Tally was sprinting, her anger burning again. Eventually, she came to a familiar looking hand ladder. Tally jumped and climbed swiftly to the top, slid the door open.

"Do you know where we--"

Tally launched herself off of the ladder and into the open, senses sharp and muscles tense, ready to find Zane.

And found herself amidst the dense trees of a deserted forest.

"So which way do we go?"

* * *

**Author's Note: I would've put this up earlier but I just realized how short the chapters are so I'm going to try and make them a little longer from now on. :)**

**Does anyone know if the singular form of Smokies is spelled 'Smoky' or 'Smokey'? Anyway, let me know what you think!**


	20. Plans

People were talking. Zane couldn't tell who, but they didn't sound like Specials. They didn't have a razor edge to their voices, so it couldn't cut through into his hazy mind. He couldn't make out what they were saying.

So ignored them and let the vapor consume him.

The voices came back eventually, louder and clearer. Still no Specials. Who was talking?

"…don't think we should risk that…"

"…do anything…"

What were they talking about anyway?

"…think he's…"

"…some more…"

Heavy stupor shrouded his mind again, and Zane drifted off.

* * *

Shay sat, watching her flash tattoos pulse on her arm. So typical of Tally to run off and leave the rest of them no information on where she was going.

"What direction was she headed?"

"Down the tunnel that she and Zane explored," Jaire said. "She said she was going to 'find Zane'. Syth went with her and they still haven't come back."

Zane. Of course. She should have known.

"Wonderful," Shay growled.

"I'm pretty sure Zane was captured," Jaire added quickly.

Shay glanced at the Smokey lying unconscious on the ground and then at her fingernails. "Hmm." She got up and knelt by the Smokey. She dug her fingernails into his arm.

The ugly's eyes flew open and he cried out in pain. His eyes focused on Shay's face. She gave him her Specialest smile, showing off her razor point teeth. Fear showed as clear as the night stars in his dull eyes.

"I've got some questions for you."

The Smokey just stared at her.

Kita and Cox slipped back; finished checking Tally's tunnel. Their eyes were wide. "Shay, remember that story you told us about nanos once?"

Shay kept her eyes on the Smokey. "Yeah?"

"I think we found some."

Shay's muscles tensed and the Smokey cried out again. She glared at him. "What are you doing with nanos?" she demanded sharply.

"Can't tell," he managed to gasp.

Shay gave him another Special smile. This was just a random. With a little pushing, his loyalty would crumble soon enough. She dug her nails deeper into his flesh. "We don't want to hurt you," Shay said, her voice cool but dripping with venom. "But we will if we have to." She slowly drew out her cutting knife and examined it indifferently.

"Okay, okay!" The Smokey's eyes were wide. He must have known that Specials meant what they said. "What do you want to know?"

"Have you tried kidnapping any Specials lately?"

"One guy," he said. "The other got away."

"And where's the guy that you did manage to take?"

"He's…"

Shay twirled her knife.

"At the other base!"

"Which is?"

"Fifty miles straight from the weapon room door."

"Good boy," Shay nodded. "Now what are you doing with nanos?"

The Smokey pursed his lips and dropped his eyes.

Shay brushed the cold blade against his skin. "Skin is rather easy to cut," she murmured, showing him her line of scars. "We Cutters know that for a fact."

The Smokey took a deep breath. Shay caught his arm muscles stiffening.

_Ping!_

Shay checked her skintenna. It wasn't from one of the Cutters.

"Okay, I'll tell," the Smokey breathed. "We do have a reason for the nanos."

"Which is?"

"We are going to try and take down a building," he said slowly. "Then we are going to stop them so nobody else will be hurt."

"Nobody _else_?"

The Smokey nodded.

"Who's going to be hurt?"

"The people in the building." He was enunciating each syllable, as if he were talking to a littlie. Shay felt a flash of irritation.

"That's not specific," she barked.

"The building is where you come from." His fear was showing. "Special. Circumstances. Headquarters."

The Cutters hissed.

Shay had learned overtime to always keep calm and stay icy. So that was what she did. "Good little ugly," she said, seething. "Your role in this is over." Shay smashed her hand into his jaw. His head fell back as he was knocked out. Shay dropped him roughly. Normally, she would have just used a needle, but she needed to vent her anger out _somewhere_.

Then something caught her eye. There was something on the Smokey's finger, like an interface ring. There was one tiny button.

That was where the ping had come from.

Shay was on her feet in less than a second. "He sent them a message," she hissed. "They're going now!" She whipped around, diving towards the exit.

"What about Tally and Zane?" Fausto asked.

"And Syth."

"Kita and Cox, make sure no one else comes here and gets away," Shay ordered. "The rest of us are going to Special Circumstances. _Now_."

Tally and her boyfriend were just going to have to wait.

* * *

A hoverboard would have been nice.

Tally could run faster than any human—minus other Specials—on the planet, but it still wasn't fast enough. If only she could just let her hoverboard's lifter fans take her through the forest.

"The grass is more flattened here," Syth said in between evenly paced breaths. "People must have gone this way a lot."

"Great," Tally answered. "But know this is where they're taking Zane?"

"Well, if it isn't…it'll bring us closer to finding him."

"You're quite the optimist," Tally muttered.

"Thank you!"

* * *

"He's waking up. Should we…?"

"No."

"But—"

"It's fine, I doubt he can break free."

Zane could think again. His body felt strangely numb, as if his mind had been separated from it. A little like cutting, except not nearly as helpful. When he cut, the world became clearer and more focused rather than far away.

He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't quite find them.

"You _doubt_ it?" a voice muttered.

"Either way, I'd like to have a nice talk with him," came from a different voice.

Zane felt a small bit of irritation at that voice. He couldn't quite place it though.

"Any minute now." That stupid voice…

"Don't get too excited now David," someone said dryly.

David.

With a great effort, Zane found his eyelids and forced them up. His vision seemed a little fuzzy at first, which hadn't happened since he became a Special. He blinked once and it cleared.

The ceiling and walls were a plain white. Zane avert his gaze elsewhere to escape the plainness.

An involuntary hiss escaped through his teeth.

"Hey Zane," David said.

"Where the hell am I?"

David didn't answer the question.

Zane started to sit up but found his arms and legs pinned down by thick straps. Not to mention his limbs felt like jelly—weak and sluggish.

Instead, he demanded, "Where's Tally?"

That seemed to darken David's face rather quickly. "Not here. Probably back at Special Circumstances by now."

Zane refused to believe that. Tally wouldn't just abandon him…unless something went wrong.

Suddenly, a Smokey burst into the room. "We're going now," he panted. "We just thought we'd let you know."

"Why?" David seemed taken aback.

"We got an emergency ping; the Specials must have learned the plan."

David's face paled but he nodded. The Smokey hurried away. "I don't like this," he muttered under his breath.

"Well I don't either," Zane snapped. "What's going on?"

David shifted uneasily, as if waiting for Zane to spring even though he was tied down and probably drugged. "Well…"

"Spit it out."

David shrugged. "Guess there isn't much you can d about it anyway. We're launching an attack on Special Circumstances."

Special Circumstances. Were they insane? Specials were almost superhuman and the headquarters was loaded with battle weapons that they could use. Smokies basically had hoverboards and…hoverboards. Let them try. "I should have known you would all go mad after a while," Zane snorted.

"I think your _special _mind is forgetting something." He spat the word 'special.'

Zane backtracked. _Smokie basically had hoverboards and…hoverboards…and…_

Freaking nanos.

"No fucking way!" Zane's arms jerked against their bindings. "You're going to _eat_ all the Specials? What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Let's not forget that you attacked Diego," David answered.

Zane's head spun dizzily. What if Tally really was back there? "Tally," he spat out. "You said she's there."

David gritted his teeth. "We'll get there before her," he said, though it seemed more like he was trying to convince himself.

"It doesn't matter," Zane disagreed. "They'll still get caught up in nanos once they get there—"

"We're stopping them once the building's gone."

Zane twitched his fingers, trying to activate his skintenna. It was jammed. "You stupid random!" he hissed. "You say _our_ brains are messed up? You're going to kill them all." Heated rage flashed through him. "You should never have messed with Tally's life."

That seemed to hit a nerve. "I'm saving her from a life of manipulation," he growled.

Zane's muscles were screaming to attack. He pulled against the straps so hard that his skin burned, until finally, they broke. Zane launched himself at David, teeth bared and hands curled into claws.

Zane knocked him into the wall, his fingers tearing at whatever he could grab onto. His hands were about to enclose around David's neck when he felt something pricking the skin on his neck.

A syringe.

"I'll inject you right now," David threatened, breathing heavily. "See how much Tally likes you then."

* * *

**A/n: Sorry for the incredibly slow update but I have been having some really annoying writer's block and I'm trying to figure out the rest of the story so just try to be patient, it'll speed up once I do!**


	21. Race Against Nanos

"This had better be the right place," Tally muttered as she and Syth slipped through the empty halls, their footsteps nearly silent. A normal person wouldn't be able to hear them at all.

"I don't see how it wouldn't be. It's kind of in the middle of a random forest," Syth pointed out.

"True." Tally sighed. Specials weren't supposed to have doubts. Especially stupid ones.

Then again, how could Tally not be having doubts? _Zane_ was lost, and for all Tally knew, he could be hurt.

Maybe even cured. Or completely despecialized.

_It doesn't matter_, Tally reminded herself. _As long as he's alive._ Then again, it wouldn't hurt if he stayed fully special.

They stopped at the next turn. Tally peeked down the next hallway. Empty again. Annoyed, Tally checked her skintenna but found nothing but a signal from Syth. "If Zane were here, wouldn't we be able to tell?" she growled.

"Maybe they jammed it."

Okay, why wasn't she thinking of any of these answers? They were so _obvious_.

"We're not getting anywhere," Syth said. "Hmm…do you think we could like…scent for him or something? We are Specials after all."

Tally turned to look at her. "Are you implying that Zane _smells_?"

"No. Well, yes. I mean…maybe not smell but…you know what I mean?"

Tally wouldn't actually mind if he were cured, right? She said so herself—special or not—she would always love him.

About twelve versions of those thoughts raced through Zane's spinning mind, as he remained frozen, a needle threatening to inject him with the cure at any given moment.

He felt incredibly torn. Half of him was madly urging him to take action and attack, letting his anger do the job. The other half—the one with logic and common sense—was telling him not to give David any reason to act just yet.

"You know Tally will hate you," Zane said through his teeth.

"What makes you think that?"

"You have no idea how much trouble she went through to help me become a Special. You don't know how much she risked—"

"She shouldn't have risked it," David spat. "None of this would be a problem if it weren't for you."

_You mean the fact that she didn't choose you?_ Zane wanted to say. He held his tongue though, considering David had the fate of Zane's iciness in his hands. The thought of letting himself fall into the trap of a random pissed him off. Even so, his comment would just have to wait.

"Tally might not have ever found the pills if it weren't for me," Zane answered slowly. "She might not have even remembered you."

A flicker of surprise appeared in David's eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I guess you didn't know then." Zane worked to keep his tone calm and controlled. "She didn't remember you when she turned pretty."

"It's because of the brain damage," David said. "It's just the brain damage." It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

Zane tensed, ready to take David's distraction to his advantage. He was just about to act when something that sounded a lot like a shelf being knocked over sounded from a nearby room.

"Shit. Didn't mean to do that." Only Zane's special ears could recognize the razor edge to that voice through a wall.

David swore, starting to put pressure on the syringe.

Zane threw an arm up, almost shaking with adrenaline. For the briefest moment, he felt a prick of pain on his neck. Then his arm made contact and the cure flew. Zane didn't even look to see where it would land. He threw open the door and made a mighty leap for a quick start to his escape.

Then he collided with another muscled form and found himself falling to the ground on top of the person. They skidded a few feet across the slick floor.

"What the hell?" someone exclaimed.

Zane flipped himself off of the person under him. His eyes flickered to the source of the voice. It was Tally, standing with her mouth open, eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

Unfortunately, Zane didn't have time for a proper reunion—or explanation—because David was sprinting down the hall, about to round the corner. Zane took off after the Smokey, four long strides bringing him almost close enough to lunge. David disappeared around the corner and Zane followed, a hand raised like the deadly claw of a predator.

Electricity. Out of sheer special reflex, Zane leaned back just enough to barely limbo under a shock-stick. Its sizzling electricity tickled his face, stung at his nose.

His reflexes were superhuman, but he couldn't defy physics. Unable to stop fast enough, he barreled into the random Smokey. Zane managed to lock the Smokey's hands together in his shackle-like grip as they tumbled to the ground. But this wasn't the Smokey he'd wanted to catch. David was still getting away.

Zane stung the Smokey with a stinger. As he detangled himself, Tally shot past with Syth just at her heels. A wave of Smokey's poured down the hall to meet them, to buy David time.

Fourteen hoverboards shot through the forest. Their riders guided them effortlessly through the trees at top speeds, arms spread to enhance their perfect balance, dark eyes staring intently ahead.

"We'll never make it in time," a Cutter said. "They must have hovercars to transport all those nanos."

"We'll make it," Shay growled. "We have to."

"What do we do when our lifter fans overheat?" Tachs said.

"Carry the boards and run."

"It took Tally days to get there with multiple hoverboards," Ho pointed out.

"Just shut up and ride!" Shay snapped. She pulled out her ceremonial knife and slashed her arm without even looking down. The others waited in tense silence, listening through their skintennas as Shay's breathing grew louder and more irregular.

"I've got it," she finally said. "Seven of us will go with two hoverboards each. The other seven will head back to Diego and try to contact headquarters from there."

Unconscious Smokies littered the hallway ground. Unfortunately, none of them were David. Three Cutters picked their way past the scattered bodies.

"We have to get back to Special Circumstances headquarters," Zane said, his flash tattoos pulsing. "They're launching an attack. Now."

"With nanos?" Syth asked, her eyes wide.

"We don't have any hoverboards," Tally said. "How are we going to get there in time?"

"They're bound to have something here that we can use," Zane said. "Let's split up and look." They dispersed. Syth backtracked while Zane and Tally went to explore different halls.

"Hoverboards," came Syth's voice through the skintenna. "None of them are Special Circumstances style though." She voice was almost smug.

"Room full of shock-sticks," came from Zane. "Might as well bring some."

Tally slipped down her hall, pausing at an open door that was just slightly open. She pushed it open and stepped inside.

Or rather, she stepped outside into an open-roofed garage. A shiny hovercar equipped with lifter fans sat in the middle. Two Smokies were about to get in.

"A Special!" one of them exclaimed, spotting Tally.

"Hurry up! Get in!" the other cried.

"Stop!" Tally barked, flying at the closest Smokey. He reached for a shock-stick but it was too late. Tally flicked out a stinger and stabbed him in the neck. His body went limp. Tally looked up and saw the other Smokey get into the hovercar and settle at the controls. Tally jumped in through the drivers' seat just as the hovercar started to rise. The Smokey girl turned to look at her, eyes wide with fear. "You're not going anywhere," Tally growled, flicking out another needle.

The hovercar suddenly lurched to the side, nearly throwing Tally out the door. Tally hissed, clinging to the seat's arm rest as the Smokey girl jerked and spun the hovercar around in an effort to dislodge Tally. "Think you're clever, don't you?" Tally spat, clawing her way toward the girl despite the jerky movements. The Smokey stared back defiantly, although panic crept into her expression. The hovercar shot up out of the roofless garage and into the open air. With more space to maneuver, the jostling increased, but Tally still hung on. "You'll have to do better than that," Tally grunted as she continued to approach slowly. She managed to secure one foot against the seat.

Just as the hovercar lurched one last time, Tally sprang. Her stinger needle found its way into the Smokey's throat and the girl went limp with a soft cry of protest. Tally threw the Smokey into the back seat and took the controls.

"Tally, are you okay?" came Zane's voice. Glancing down, Tally saw him standing in the middle of the garage with three bags of shock-sticks and staring up at her, probably wondering why in the world someone would fly a hovercar so strangely. Tally lowered the hovercar back into the garage just as Syth walked in with three hoverboards.

"Get in," Tally said. Zane threw the bags of shock-sticks into the back and slid in next to Tally. Syth opened the back door.

"Why is there a body in here?" she asked as she threw the hoverboards in before her.

"Just keep her down back there," Tally said. "She might be useful later."

"Um, okay. I got us some hoverboards. They're not top-notch like the ones we have, but I guess they're better than nothing."

"Let's get going," Zane said. "David and the Smokies with the nanos already got a head start."

Tally flew the hovercar back out of the garage and straight toward her city. The lifter fans roared as she pushed them to full speed. "Well," she said through her bared teeth. "I wouldn't want them to start without us."

* * *

**Author's Note: WOW it's been a while since I updated. I'm feeling a bit rusty!**

**I know it took me forever to get this chapter up and I don't know when the next one will come, but I _will_ continue this story. I also have more new Uglies fanfics planned, so keep an eye out for them!**

**Reviews inspire updates. So if you want more updates and you want them fast, reviews the best motivators :)**


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